The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting some alarming COVID numbers Wednesday with early 3,900 new cases and 40 deaths, including two people in their twenties and thirties.
The state's positivity rate has also shot up to 7.3%. These are some of the highest numbers Minnesota has seen since 2020.
University of Minnesota Infectious Disease Director Dr. Michael Osterholm on WCCO Radio Wednesday says people who are still not willing to take the vaccine are putting themselves at risk unnecessarily.
“We have people dying needlessly that don’t have to because they could have been vaccinated and protected. Of the 700,000 people that have died in this country from COVID, 400,000 have died since vaccines have been available. Many of those people could have been protected. The same is true in Minnesota.
Osterholm adds that the pandemic is continuing to be a national issue because of those who won’t get vaccinated.
“This is still largely a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Osterholm says. “Clearly we’re seeing some breakthrough cases in people who have been vaccinated and that’s why the booster will be important. But largely the serious illness is really occurring in people who have not been vaccinated.”
Osterholm, talking to WCCO's Chad Hartman, said he's particularly concerned about what he calls a dramatic increase in transmission in schools.
“While clearly and fortunately, kids don’t have serious illness and death nearly as often as their older parents, etc. do, they still get really sick,” according to Dr. Osterholm.
To make matters worse, Osterholm says pediatric ICU units in hospitals across the Upper Midwest are practically at capacity.
“I tell you this, it’s virtually impossible to find a pediatric intensive care bed in the Upper Midwest that’s not taken already,” Osterholm warns. “So you better hope your child doesn’t get seriously ill in the next couple of days. That’s a real challenge.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Education Commissioner Heather Mueller are held a press conference Wednesday afternoon calling for a special session to enact legislation that would require more masking and testing requirements in schools.
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