Ending the COVID-19 outbreak depends on individual Minnesotans acting responsibly to stem the spread, the state’s infectious disease director said Wednesday as hospitalizations and intensive cases continued to climb.

With every decision Minnesotans make now about masking or not masking, socially distancing or not, “you are contributing to the solution, or to the crisis,” Kris Ehresmann told reporters.

This is an MPR News evening update for Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Hosted by Tim Nelson and Megan Burks.

Our theme music is by Gary Meister.