The Minnesota Department of Health reports 523 more cases to a total of over 13,435. Twenty-five more people have died bringing the count to 663.
Here’s a roundup of topics from the May 14 MDH daily briefing:
- The latest executive order from Gov. Tim Walz, who extended his peacetime state of emergency powers before they expired Wednesday, allows for a hybrid of in-person and distance learning for summer school, giving districts the choice. It states schools will need to implement alternating schedules for safety.
The goal, it says, is to address inequality with many students statewide lacking broadband or other equipment for school under distance conditions:
“Reaching all children equitably must continue to be a priority, especially children of color, indigenous children, immigrant children, low-income families and communities, and people who have disabilities. Access to mental health services and support, hands-on student education and support, broadband and devices, and consistent instructional expectations continue to be concerns for many students...Our educators stand ready to meet this need. Opportunities for in-school learning and other activities will provide the engagement, support, and access lacking for many of our communities through the distance learning model.”
- Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm further detailed Wednesday’s announcement that the stay at home order will not be extended past May 18, adding that this is no time for vigilance to waver.
“The whole intent here is for this to be a gradual and targeted and careful reopening that really is contingent on our businesses opening using best practices with social distance guidelines and engineering controls to keep workers and customers safe, and for all of us as citizens to be really adhering to that health guidance that you just keep hearing over and over,” Malcolm said.
That health guidance is wearing masks, physical distancing, staying close to home and limited face-to-face interactions with the elderly and at-risk.
“We can all contribute to doing this successfully or not,” Malcolm said.
Walz said Wednesday he would dial the reopening back if there is a spike in cases. Malcolm said they’re watching these metrics in particular to make sure the healthcare system’s integrity stays intact: community spread, rate of cases doubling, which now stands at 10 days, and rate of positive cases with an increase in testing.
The state hit a single-day high of more than 6,700 Wednesday.
- Twenty members of the Minnesota National Guard are being assigned to help collect tests at long term care facilities.
Part of the Walz administration’s five-point “battle plan” for addressing cases at the congregate living spaces is to expand testing facility-wide with a positive test.
“The Guard provides a surge capacity and helps us bridge gaps,” Joe Kelly, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said. “We often call on them to fill a breach when we need time to bring in another solution. These mobile Covid-19 testing teams are a perfect example of their value to our state.”
- MDH is also expecting weekly shipments of Remdesivir, the drug shown to reduce the time to recovery for hospitalized patients. There is enough now to treat 145 seriously ill, hospitalized and likely ventilated patients under a 10-day course.
- Another statistic from MDH: 98.8 percent of Covid-19 deaths had underlying health conditions.
