I remember seeing the announcement back in 2019, so I don't think it's specifically related to the pandemic.

I'll be interested to see how well interoperability works for people visiting Minnesota who have existing EZ-Pass transponders, and how the signage will communicate that. I'd imagine the readers are good enough to detect which lane someone is in, but it'd be quite the surprise if someone from out-of-state used that lane (maybe with multiple people in the car) and didn't realize that they were being charged because it sensed their transponder from out-of-state and they didn't have HOV mode on.