MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Minnesota officials extended the peacetime emergency for another 30 days in order to boost the state's response to more infectious variants of the COVID-19 virus.

The five Democratic statewide officials who make up the Minnesota Executive Council voted unanimously Wednesday for the extension.

It's the 13th time the state has extended the emergency since last March, when the coronavirus was first detected in Minnesota.

The federal government and 46 other states remain under emergency orders. Reports say it is the longest time Minnesota has been in a state of emergency since World War II.