July 15 update on COVID-19: Minnesotans must work harder to slow spread, official says

Updated 8 p.m.

State health leaders on Wednesday pressed Minnesotans to stay vigilant to slow the spread of COVID-19, emphasizing personal responsibility and cautioning that the recent rapid increase in new cases will lead to more deaths.

They also encouraged families to make plans for others to care for young children should parents and other caregivers fall ill with the disease.

"We are, in fact, at a worrisome point that our numbers are going up,” Dr. Ruth Lynfield, the state epidemiologist, said of the two-week trend in daily case counts. "This really is a moment for all of us to take a step back and think about what we can do to slow transmission."

While Minnesota “may not be in the worst shape … we are not in the best shape either,” Lynfield told reporters. “Other states and other countries are doing better than us. That should be an inspiration for us to try to work harder.”

Cases climb as deaths, ICU cases slow

Lynfield’s comments came hours after the state Health Department reported a mix of hopeful and concerning COVID-19 data Wednesday — new deaths and intensive care cases continue to slow even as the count of new cases accelerates.

Department data showed eight more deaths from the disease, putting Minnesota’s toll at 1,518 since the pandemic began, continuing a three-week trend of mostly single digit daily deaths.

Current hospitalizations (254) rose from Tuesday even as the count of people currently needing intensive care (106) dipped by one. Still, Minnesota reported another 578 confirmed tests for the disease, part of an overall trend of steeply rising cases seen in the past few weeks.

Of the 43,742 cases confirmed in the state since the pandemic began, about 87 percent have recovered to the point they no longer need to be isolated.

Among those who’ve died, 78 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted living facilities, nearly all had long-term health problems.

Lynfield and other officials again implored Minnesotans to wear masks in indoor social spaces, wash hands regularly and socially distance to minimize COVID-19’s spread.

“We know that people are sick and tired of precautions and hearing about precautions” but people shouldn’t let down their guard, Lynfield said. “The virus is out there. We want to be able to live in a pandemic as best we can.”

It will be “a long time in the best scenario” before an effective vaccine becomes available, she said. Until then, “it is really up to us to make the choice to limit the spread.”

20-somethings drive new cases

The newest counts come as state health officials continue to worry about the recent spike of coronavirus cases in younger Minnesotans, with current fears including that those infected will inadvertently spread the virus to more vulnerable populations.

Minnesotans in their 20s now make up the age group with the most confirmed cases, with more than 10,000 since the outbreak started. The median age of Minnesotans infected has been trending down in recent weeks and is now below 38 years old.

While current hospitalization counts in Minnesota remain relatively low, “we are likely going to see increases in hospitalizations because of the ripple effect” of younger people becoming infected, Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director, said earlier in the week, adding that young adults “don’t live in a vacuum.”

Parents should ‘make a plan’

On Wednesday, Ehresmann encouraged people to develop plans for children should parents and other caregivers become ill with COVID-19.

As cases rise and more people will need hospitalization, it’s a good idea to develop plans for alternate, short-term care for children should adults in their lives fall sick, she said.

To that end, families should pull together information on children’s medical and educational needs, routines and comforts, Ehresmann added.

The Health Department has posted “make a plan” guidance on its website.

Also on Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz said he is working on a plan to get K-12 students back in classrooms safely. In an interview with WCCO, Walz said he planned to spend some of his day working on a plan for the upcoming academic year.

Amid recent case upticks, worries over another PPE shortage

State health officials on Wednesday also noted that there are some personal protective equipment supply issues popping up again globally. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said that hospitals have their own supplies in addition to a shared stockpile, and that the state currently has about 106 days worth of N95 respirator masks and 60 days of nonlatex gloves.

She said there has been some testing supplies shortages in recent days, and she expects similar shortages with personal protective equipment.

"We're not assuming we have enough,” she said, “we do have a very good supply right now, but because of what we're seeing with global supply chain issues reemerging, we're continuing to look to source additional supplies of some of the high quality masks and gowns and the like that we anticipate needing as this pandemic evolves.”

Malcolm said she expects the demand to grow in the fall as the flu season begins.

Walz continues to weigh statewide mask order

The latest counts come following news that people from Minnesota visiting New York, New Jersey and Connecticut must now quarantine for 14 days on arrival in those states, given the jump in new cases here. Minnesota and Wisconsin ended up on that list Wednesday along with 20 other states seeing cases climb.

That jump the past two weeks is one of the factors that has Gov. Tim Walz considering a statewide order requiring Minnesotans to wear masks in indoor facilities.

Medical groups in Minnesota and the state Health Department continue to support a statewide mask-mandate as the cities Winona, Rochester and Mankato have become the latest cities to make such orders on a local level. Minneapolis, St. Paul and Edina have also mandated mask-wearing in the cities’ public spaces.

Walz on Monday expressed concern that Minnesotans were lagging in efforts to wear masks to stem the spread. However, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, warned a statewide mandate would be a mistake.

Meatpacking hot spots remain

Many of the outbreaks outside the Twin Cities metro area are focused around meatpacking plants. Officials have intensified testing in those hot spots, uncovering more infections.

That includes Mower County in southeastern Minnesota, where there were 994 confirmed cases as of Wednesday. Mower County is home to Hormel Foods and Quality Pork Processors. Both have been partnering with Mayo Clinic to ramp up employee testing.

While some of Mower County’s positive cases are associated with people who work in the facilities and with the people they live with, county officials say they are also seeing transmission among people who live in the county but work in other counties where coronavirus is present.

Nobles, in southwestern Minnesota, reported 1,698 confirmed cases as of Wednesday with six deaths. About 1 in 13 people now have tested positive for COVID-19 in the county since the pandemic began, although the count of new cases has slowed considerably in recent weeks.

Worthington’s massive JBS pork processing plant was the epicenter of the Nobles outbreak. The JBS plant shut on April 20 but has since reopened with expanded hygiene and health monitoring measures.

Similar problems have been reported in Stearns County, where COVID-19 cases tied to two packing plants — Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Cold Spring and Jennie-O Turkey in Melrose — skyrocketed in May. An undisclosed number of workers at both plants have tested positive for the virus.

There were about 55 confirmed cases in Stearns County in early May. By Wednesday, confirmed cases were at 2,575 with 19 deaths.

Kandiyohi County in west-central Minnesota is also dealing with a significant caseload more than two months after officials with the Jennie-O turkey processing plant there said some employees had tested positive for the coronavirus.

As of Wednesday, the Health Department reported 600 people have now tested positive in the county, the same as Monday. The county had confirmed three COVID-19 cases in late April.

Cases have also climbed noticeably in Lyon County (364 cases), around a turkey processor in Marshall. Cases the past few weeks have also grown in Cottonwood County (144 cases), home to a pork processing plant in Windom in southern Minnesota, but the counts there have since stabilized.

Developments from around the state

Spurred by pandemic, Black Bear Casino in Carlton goes smoke-free

The Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has banned smoking at its main casino in Carlton, a major step from standard practice at tribal gaming operations in Minnesota.

The ban went into effect Wednesday morning in all buildings at the Black Bear Resort Casino which sits next to Interstaste 35 south of Cloquet, Minn. The outright ban is unprecedented among high-profile tribal gaming operations in Minnesota. The Fond Du Lac band prohibited smoking at its much smaller casino in downtown Duluth a month ago.

Black Bear general manager Daniel George LaPrairie said the decision was in part because people smoking were not wearing masks, prompting concern about the potential spread of COVID-19.

“Employees and guests and the community are the forefront of our thoughts here. We are definitely concerned with the health and well being of our community,” he said. “This is a step in the right direction, and we’ll keep making those steps in those decisions to keep us safe here.

LaPrairie said the decision was temporary, but that it may last beyond the COVID-19 outbreak. He said cultural attitudes both in Native and wider communities were moving against smoking, and that he believes tribal gaming may take wider action against the practice.

— Tim Nelson | MPR News

Best Buy to require customers to wear masks amid virus spike

Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer electronics chain, will require customers to wear face coverings at all of its stores nationwide, even in states or localities that don't require them to do so.

The retailer, based in Richfield, Minn, joins a growing but still short list of retailers and restaurants that have instituted mask mandates throughout their chains. Starbucks announced last week that customers who visit its company-owned café locations in the U.S. will be required to wear face coverings. The policy will be in effect on Wednesday as well.

Best Buy Co. said Tuesday it will provide a face covering if a customer doesn’t have one, and small children and those unable to wear one for health reasons may enter without one. It said that customers who have concerns about wearing mask will be able to shop Best Buy via its website and app and choose home delivery or contactless curbside pickup.

The moves come after The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents Best Buy as well as Target, Home Depot and other major chains, publicized last week a letter it sent to state governors to mandate store customers to wear face coverings. It said the hodgepodge of rules around the country have created confusion for shoppers and that has lead to conflict between customers and workers trying to enforce store rules.

The National Governors Association said last week that its members are discussing the letter and others like it from different retail groups.

— The Associated Press

Top headlines

Duluth joins growing list of Minnesota cities to require masks: The Duluth City Council unanimously approved an emergency ordinance Monday night requiring face coverings in many indoor spaces. In the absence of a statewide requirement, many of the state’s largest cities have passed similar measures. 

3M developing paper-based coronavirus test that could give results in minutes: Maplewood-based 3M says it is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a point-of-care test for the COVID-19 that could make diagnosing infections nearly as simple as a home pregnancy test.

Walz announces $100 million in COVID-19 housing aid: The $100 million is the state’s single biggest designation of federal COVID-19 relief funds, along with $26 million previously designated for emergency homeless aid. 

COVID-19 in Minnesota

Data in these graphs are based off Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at the Health Department website.

The coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, coughs and sneezes, similar to the way the flu can spread.

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