Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says in the coming days we can expect an update about testing capacity from Gov. Tim Walz, who on Monday said “by this week” there would be a significant ramping up.
To better see who has had the virus and who needs to be isolated in order to maintain the progress made through this time and send as many people as possible back to work, Walz’s goal is 5,000 tests a day and up to 40,000 per week.
A lack of supplies and PPE in the global supply chain has slowed these efforts. MDH also cautions that there are still unknowns with serological antibody testing and a wide range of reliability.
But Malcolm says there’s a chance to harness the increased capacity created by University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic researchers.
“This is not a simple situation where everything is necessarily going to be going in the same direction at the same time,” Malcolm said. “I think we are going to have to learn how to manage this and how to live with this.”
Walz has not indicated what will happen after the May 4 expiration of the stay at home order, but he has emphasized that testing is a major component of loosening restrictions. The CDC recommends reopening the economy after 14 straight days of declining cases. Minnesota is not seeing that trend, but rather a steady uptick that has avoided hospitals from being overrun. Malcolm says that CDC guideline is not the only variable Walz is evaluating.
“While it may seem that we’re in a lull right now and everyone’s waiting for what’s going to happen with the shelter in place, we know we’re going to see more cases,” state Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann said. “We’re absolutely going to see more cases.”
