ST PAUL, Minn. — Wednesday, April 29
2 p.m.
State health and emergency officials held their daily update call on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon.
Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said the increase of 463 cases reported Wednesday represents the focus on increased testing, both specifically in the southwest part of the state and more broadly.
The majority of the 18 additional deaths reported Wednesday were in long-term care, Malcolm said.
"We are doing more testing and we are seeing more cases," said MDH Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann. "We are going to continue to see more cases as we continue to do more testing, and that is not necessarily a bad thing."
Ehresmann said that the increase in identified cases means that they can track others who have been in contact with those people and keep them isolated, limiting the spread.
The rate of fatalities is also dropping, Ehresmann said, as they begin to widen the range of testing.
Minnesota's Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Joe Kelly said the state has come to an agreement to use a Presbyterian Homes facility in Roseville as an alternate care site.
His department has been working to identify alternate care sites across the state. They have 1,800 additional hospital beds at the ready, should they be needed for overflow care when COVID-19 cases spike. These non-hospital sites could be used for less serious medical needs like recovery from surgeries, while hospital beds are used for intensive care.
Kelly said he hopes these sites will not be needed, but "hope is not a plan."
"Things are looking really good," said MDH Assistant Commissioner Marie Dotseth regarding Minnesota's readiness for the COVID-19 peak.
"We're monitoring bed capacity daily, we're monitoring what's going on in different cities," she said. "Every day that goes by we learn a little bit more and we're feeling confident that we will see a surge but we are well prepared capacity-wise with what we've planned so far."
For Minnesotans who have applied for unemployment insurance, DEED Commissioner Steve Grove has a message: "Don't worry, it's coming."
"You don't have to call in and follow up," he said. "We are tracking every single application."
He also offered a reminder that independent contractors and self-employed workers will receive the extra $600 payment they're eligible for under the federal CARES Act.
"We are working hard on this, we are back-dating every single payment from the moment you are eligible," Grove said.
Grove announced a new tool for businesses in Minnesota, MN Symptom Screener, to help them navigate health screenings for employees.
Additionally, Grove said Target is making a supply of no-touch infrared forehead thermometers available to Minnesota businesses at cost. More information is available on the DEED website.
While Gov. Tim Walz has not announced whether he will extend the state's Stay at Home order set to expire Monday, Malcolm said the guidance to social distance and wear cloth masks in public is not going anywhere.
"The guidance to stay close to home, to restrict large gatherings, to restrict close contact with anyone outside of your household, those things are going to stay in place," Malcolm said.
She said the conversations about reopening the economy are interdisciplinary and involve multiple departments.
"He's perfectly mindful of the fact that we're in a growth phase of the pandemic and we're gonna see more cases, and unfortunately we're gonna see more deaths," Malcolm said.
Malcolm said she "can't stress enough" how important it is for the community to continue to work together to reduce the spread, even as the state begins to reopen more businesses.
Of Wednesday's 18 deaths, 16 of them were in long-term care facilities. Around 99% of people who have died from coronavirus in Minnesota had underlying health conditions.
The number of cases is not always a function of whether a long term care facility is following guidelines or not, Malcolm said citing the worldwide shortage of PPE as an example.
11 a.m.
Numbers released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reflect the push to ramp up testing across Minnesota, with the largest single-day increase in both cases and tests since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MDH says 2,915 people were tested for the coronavirus in the past day, bringing the total of tests administered in state and private labs to 66,744. In the last day 463 people tested positive for the virus, bringing the total of Minnesota cases since late January to 4,644.
Sadly, an additional 18 people have died, bringing fatalities in the state to 319. State health officials say 83% of those who have died from complications of COVID-19 were age 70 or above, with 13 percent between the ages of 60 and 69.
Of those testing positive, 320 are currently being treated in hospitals, with 119 of those experiencing symptoms serious enough to be cared for in the ICU. Since the pandemic started, 950 Minnesotans have required hospitalization.
MDH says 2,043 people who contracted the coronavirus have recovered enough to no longer require isolation.
Tuesday, April 28
2 p.m.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) used its daily phone briefing Tuesday to give an update on the scope of COVID-19 testing in the state.
MDH reported an additional 365 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, by far the largest one-day increase yet in the pandemic.
Jan Malcolm, MDH Commissioner, said that spike is largely due to an increase in testing. Last week, Gov. Tim Walz announced that the state has teamed up with the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic to provide "widespread" testing throughout the state.
The goal is to offer diagnostic tests to 20,000 Minnesotans per day, and serology tests to detect antibodies to 15,000 per day. Malcolm and Walz have both said that it will take a few weeks to build up to that level.
"With more testing, we will see more cases," MDH Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann warned. "People should not be shocked or concerned. ... Now we have a chance to actually measure what's happening in the community.
In response to a question about the death rate in Minnesota, Ehresmann also pointed out that the state is focusing testing on a higher-risk segment of the population. She said that is why the death rate appears high compared to those in some other states.
MDH Assistant Commissioner Dan Huff pointed out that the number of tests performed in the most recent 24-hour period - 2,412 - has more than doubled since last week.
"That’s good news," Huff said. 'We’re not where we need to be on testing. We know that this is a ramp-up. It is not something that you flip a light switch and it comes on, but rather we are increasing capacity every day."
Huff said they are moving toward “unprecedented” levels of testing and are working to train more staff members to handle the influx.
Some of the testing the state is focusing on is called "serology" testing. That's a process for measuring antibodies that a person may have built up after contracting COVID-19 and then recovering.
Dr. Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota's state epidemiologist, said that the most important factor is whether those antibodies are "protective" or not, and can keep someone from getting the virus again.
"We just don't have that information yet," she said. "We also don't know, if there is protection, how long it lasts. Does it last for six months? Does it last for a year? Does it last for two years?"
Lynfield said they also want to use antibody testing to help them understand how many people have already had COVID-19. Their purpose for this is two-fold: MDH wants to better determine the scope of the pandemic in Minnesota, but they also want to identify those who have already had the virus in order to use their plasma to help those currently infected recover.
There are more than 100 serologic tests out there and some are "not as accurate" as others, Lynfield said. "These tests are not 100% sensitive or 100% specific," she said.
"This is a new virus, so we are really learning as we go," Lynfield said.
With another virus like measles, for instance, Lynfield pointed out that those who have had the disease or been immunized "develop very strong immunity." Influenza, on the other hand, changes so much that "the immunity is much more short-lived." Lynfield said that's why we come out with a new vaccine every year.
"What we are hoping with coronavirus is that there will be protective immunity, because that is what is going to get us out of this pandemic," she said. "When there is a high enough proportion of the population that has protective immunity then transmission of the virus fizzles out."
Lynfield said that often if enough of the population has either been infected or vaccinated, then a virus will stop circulating for extended periods of time. That's been the case with measles in the U.S.
"It will go and find the person who does not have antibodies and infect them but it doesn't keep going around and around," Lynfield said.
Researchers do not yet know what proportion of the population will need o contract COVID-19 - or get a vaccine - to develop "herd immunity."
"It depends on how transmissible it is, it depends on how longstanding and protective the immunity it is," Lynfield said. "Some scientists have estimated that it needs to be in the range of 80-90%. And if that is the case, we really hope we will have an effective vaccine because that will be the most effective way to ensure high rates of immunity."
Lynfield said she is hopeful that coronavirus antibodies will offer protection from contracting the virus again.
"I think, though, that it may not be the case that it will have lifelong immunity," she said. "But I'm hopeful that there will be immunity for a period of time."
With the information we have now, though, Dr. Lynfield emphasized that someone who has had the virus cannot assume they are immune or that they don't need to social distance.
"We just don't have that information and the stakes of making a mistake are just too high," she said.
11 a.m.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is reporting 365 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, the largest one-day increase since the pandemic made its way into Minnesota.
Along with the new cases, which brings the total to 4,181, MDH is also reporting 15 additional deaths from complications of the coronavirus, which pushes the number of fatalities from the virus to 301.
Of those who have died from the virus, 83% are age 70 or above. Those age 60 to 69 make up 13% of the fatalities. MDH statistics indicate no one age 39 or younger has died from COVID-19 in Minnesota.
Patients who have needed hospitalization to treat their COVID-19 symptoms are now at 912, up from the 861 reported Monday. Today 314 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus, 120 with symptoms severe enough to require treatment in the ICU.
MDH says 1,912 people who tested positive have recovered enough to no longer require isolation.
The state continues to ramp up its testing numbers, with results from 2,561 patients coming in the last day. A total of 63,829 people have been tested in MDH and outside labs since late January.
Of those testing positive for the virus, 26% were likely exposed in a congregate or long term care setting. That includes both patients and staff members. Unknown is listed as the likely exposure for another 26%, while 15% are listed as community transmission with no known contact. Travel is listed as the likely exposure for 11% of those who tested positive.
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The state of Minnesota has set up a hotline for general questions about coronavirus at 651-201-3920 or 1-800-657-3903, available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.