Minn. nursing homes in rural areas see staff shortages worsen with COVID-19
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Snow has cleared out, bringing more sunshine back Monday, but temperatures stay chilly enough that parts of Minnesota could see record cold. Check out Updraft for more weather coverage.
Minnesota health officials reported nearly 4,000 more confirmed COVID-19 cases and 35 more deaths over the weekend
The state has averaged 16 COVID-19 deaths a day over the past week — that's a level not seen since June. The average number of new hospitalizations each day also continues to climb.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state reached a record high on Saturday at more than 13,000. The number ticked down slightly on Sunday, to 12,968; it was 8,171 on Oct. 1.
The weekly average for test positivity rate in Minnesota was at 6.7 percent on Sunday — down slightly from Saturday, but well above the 4.6 percent rate at the start of the month.
Facilities caring for older adults are struggling with low staffing levels, as COVID-19 makes an ongoing problem even worse.
Nursing home operators say they’re scrambling to make sure they have enough nurses and others to ensure the safety and well-being of residents.
In a matter of hours in early October, Paul Gaebe’s Friday went from normal to one of dire emergency. A resident at Mother of Mercy assisted living facility in Albany, Minn., had COVID-19.
“We had several staff that had contact with that individual,” Gaebe said. “And suddenly we went from normal staffing to short staffing within less than a day.”
Then a handful of high school students who also worked as care attendants at the home quit. Gaebe says they worried they wouldn’t be able to attend school if they were working with patients who had COVID-19.
Campaigns, candidates and, most importantly, voters are all in a holding pattern and looking for small things to cling to — or worry about.
And the coronavirus pandemic, which has introduced a new, difficult-to-quantify variable in the outcome of the election, only makes matters more anxiety-producing.
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