For City Councilor, Terese Tomanek, masks were essential before Minnesota's Mandate. In fact, she proposed the mask ordinance in Duluth that passed a week before the state mandate.

“It was important to get ahead of the game and introduce this ordinance with Councilor Forsman and Councilor Kennedy and Councilor Sipress and really be prepared, so that we don't have to have a second shut down, so that we can have our businesses be open, have our tourists come, have everyone feel safe and prevent the overwhelming response that our hospitals might have to make,” Tomanek said.

City Councilor Arik Forsman echoed these words and said that so far, it seems that the public is abiding by wearing masks.

“I talked to some business owners even this morning just to see how it’s going and, no issues. I mean, beyond a few eye rolls, it's actually been something that's been welcomed by the businesses,” Forsman said.

Tammy Clore, the owner of Reimagined by T. Underwood said the mask mandate has led to more business at her shop.

“My traffic increased, I was starting to get a lot more customers from the city that felt safe knowing they could go to businesses that had these guidelines in place,” Clore said. “I've found that in the last week, everyone is carrying a mask on them, which I find very encouraging.”

There are consequences for not wearing a mask, but so far, the City of Duluth has not had to impose them.

“We have had a few complaints that people are not complying. We haven’t' had to issue any citations,” Tomanek said.

“People are complying and we're not seeing the large outrage that social media might have you believe when you get those viral moments. People in Duluth are doing the right thing,” Forsman said.

The mandate remains in effect until Minnesota’s Peacetime Emergency ends. In the meantime, local leaders encourage all Minnesotans to mask up.

Anyone who still needs a mask can find one online, in some stores and some local organizations are also handing them out for free.

To see the original story and read related reporting, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website.  https://www.wdio.com/duluth-minnesota-news/mask-mandate-follow/5807437/?cat=10335