Counties want the state government to do better on contact tracing. Catharine Richert reports: "From the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic, 'test, trace and isolate/ was a mantra coming from the highest ranks of Minnesota’s government. ... But while testing has increased to nearly 5,000 COVID-19 tests daily, case investigation and contact tracing — the practice of contacting someone who has tested positive and then tracking down other people they may have come in contact with while they were contagious — has been slower to ramp up. State Health Department officials said they are short-staffed and it’s now taking several days to launch case investigations once they learn of a positive test result. County health officials said they’re worried delays have led to potentially risky gaps between when someone finds out they’re positive for the coronavirus and when they are first contacted by state officials to discuss who they might have been in contact with while contagious."
This final week of the legislative session is different from every other one. Via Brian Bakst: "COVID-19 has upended the agenda and has stirred talk of a near-certain special session. The Capitol isn’t its usual hive of activity because of safety measures in place. And lawmakers expect to be called back to St. Paul in some fashion this summer , perhaps on a rolling or extended basis. They’ve got to begin repairing the state budget. They might have to plow more money into coronavirus response efforts. They could be automatically summoned back to weigh in if DFL Gov. Tim Walz decides to tack a lot more time on his peacetime emergency declaration."
There's a Fix the Pipes Alliance. And you don't have to guess what members want. Kirsti Marohn will tell you: "Members of the Fix the Pipes Alliance say state lawmakers should pass a bonding bill containing funding to address aging sewer and water pipes and treatment plants — some built more than a half-century ago — and to provide an economic stimulus during the COVID-19 pandemic . ... Group members said many cities, especially in rural Minnesota, are facing costly upgrades to their wastewater or drinking water treatment plants to meet current environmental standards. They said those upgrades are too costly for most cities to afford on their own."
Some more news on the voting-amid-pandemic front ... Via NPR: "The federal government is letting states know it considers online voting to be a 'high-risk' way of running elections even if all recommended security protocols are followed. It's the latest development in the debate over internet voting as a few states have announced they plan to offer it to voters with disabilities this year, while security experts have voiced grave warnings against doing so. An eight-page report distributed to states last week recommends mail-in ballots as a more secure method of voting. It was co-authored by four federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency."
