Walz said he wants every Minnesotan to have access to at least one or two reusable cloth masks. 

"We need to be prepared. And it's places like Second Harvest Northern Lakes that makes a difference for us," he said. 

The state gave Second Harvest thousands of masks to distribute, which they'll do at 30+ northeastern Minnesota food shelves. 

"That's really important because we know that many of the people who receive our food assistance have compromised health, so whether it's chronic health issues like diabetes or heart disease, it's really important that we're keeping them safe," Executive Director Shaye Moris said. 

Minnesota's mask mandate has been in effect for two weeks, since July 25. Walz said he expects to start seeing the impact on COVID-19 cases around Aug. 15. 

"There were some good studies done in Kansas that counties that went to mask mandates saw a significant reduction in the spread of COVID," Walz said. "It really hits home in St. Louis County, where it is now St. Louis County's turn to see a little bit of growth." 

And the data will be important as schools prepare for the fall. Walz said that getting school open is important but complex. 

"I pored over every state's plans, I've talked to dozens of governors for countless hours, we've looked at plans from Israel, from South Korea, from Hong Kong on what they were doing. We're going to have to craft our own that meets our circumstance," Gov. Walz said. "But I do just tell people, you're going to have to be prepared to be flexible."

And he acknowledged that plans for hybrid models and the ambiguity about the future of learning is hard on educators. 

"There's no doubt we're asking them to go above and beyond. That's why I think the state has a responsibility to provide the best data and the best planning we can for them plus the resources we have," he said. 

To watch the original report and see related stories, follow this link  to the WDIO-TV website. https://www.wdio.com/news/tim-walz-visits-duluth-food-bank-face-masks/5820569/?cat=10335