Gov. Walz doubled down on decision to let COVID-19 patients into nursing homes in 2020

Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz doubled down in 2020 on a policy that allowed patients that tested positive for COVID-19 into nursing homes. 

Eighty percent of COVID-19 deaths were among senior citizens in Minnesota, according to a report Friday from Fox News.

The policy allowing COVID patients into nursing homes is no longer on the state government's website, but was found through the Wayback Machine, which archives pages and links that are no longer available at their original site. 

The policy reads, "Patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who still require transmission-based precautions for COVID-19 can be transferred to congregate living facilities."

"It is the recommendation of [Minnesota Department of Health] that patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 can be discharged when clinically indicated and neither discontinuation of transmission-based precautions nor the establishment of two negative COVID-19 tests is required prior to hospital discharge," the policy continues. 

In 2020, Walz said that putting COVID-19 patients in nursing homes was not a mistake despite data coming and saying it wasn't a good idea. 

"This was what everyone was doing. This was not a mistake. It wasn't like no one thought about this. There was complexity in how you deal with this," he said, according to Fox News.