Testing on a mass scale in order to get people back to work beyond May 4 when the current, extended stay at home executive order ends, continues to be the main topic of Gov. Tim Walz’s daily updates. Wednesday he and health leaders said it’s an “achievable goal” to get testing to the level needed to safely reopen the economy.
The aim of the stay at home executive order was to allow the state and health care facilities to ramp up supplies and testing to handle the surge of cases so they don’t get overrun. Walz says upwards of 35,000 tests per week, or 5,000 per day are needed to keep a handle on who had been infected and who needs to be isolated.
Along with the help of research from the U of M and Mayo Clinic, Walz says he is lighting the fire to challenge his team and state partners to achieve that goal.
“The testing has been a major failure in this entire approach across the country,” Walz said. “But what I’m seeing is that, as I look across Minnesota...with a strategic plan and some alignment here, I think it is possible and I am doing all I can to get to that number. So, my expectation is, over the next week or so, you should be able to quote those numbers and see a change.”
Minnesota infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann cautioned that there are still unknowns about certain tests, as well as what immunity in this case looks like.
“We’ve been made aware that there is some serology testing out there where individuals have received the results of their test and a letter that says, you know, you’ve been tested for COVID, you have immunity, you don’t have to social distance now, everything is great,” she said. “We want to be clear, we aren’t at the point where there’s a test out there that could provide that kind of information to a patient.”
Still, she says the different reagents and supplies needed for serological tests versus molecular ones makes it an appealing option that sidesteps some of the most challenging supply chain issues nationwide.
Walz is aiming for ramping up the testing even before May 4, but he says the focus will remain on not jeopardizing Minnesota’s safety progress.
“I think those that are clamoring, and I would include that to be every single one of us, to try and move back to a sense of normalcy, you can’t just say you want to restart,” Walz said, “because then you end up with a Smithfield situation. It does us no good to send everybody back to work and then get everybody sick. What does do us good is to be able to send folks back to work who, one, may be immune because they’ve had it, two, have just been tested and they’re symptom-free, and three, we have the resources necessary should someone get sick, that it doesn’t become a hot spot.
