 | Courtesy of Sanford Health
July 14, 2020
Health leaders concerned with 'ripple effect' spreading from coronavirus case spike in young Minnesotans | |
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Happy Tuesday and welcome to your daily reminder that the coronavirus is far from out of our lives. First, the weather.
Cooler and wet. Twin Cities temps will be steady in the upper 60s with thunderstorms and a 90 percent chance of rain. At night, skies will clear with lows in the 50s. Statewide, there’s a chance of wet storms and highs in the 70s, clearing by night with lows in the 50s. More on Updraft | Forecast
Even state health officials are surprised at how much the number of coronavirus cases in young Minnesotans is increasing. Those in their 20s account for nearly 10,000 cases, the most of any other age group. In addition, the median age of coronavirus-positive Minnesotans is below 38 years old and has been trending down for weeks.
Thanks to the virus spreading from young adults, COVID-19 hospitalizations will likely increase in coming weeks. While current hospitalization counts remain relatively low, “we are likely going to see increases in hospitalizations because of the ripple effect” of younger people becoming infected, said Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director. Young adults, she added, “don’t live in a vacuum.”
Here are the latest coronavirus statistics:
- 42,772 cases confirmed (499 new) via 768,989 tests
- 1,504 deaths (2 new)
- 4,424 cases requiring hospitalization
- 247 people remain hospitalized; 114 in intensive care
- 37,199 patients no longer needing isolation
Minnesota is still in a declared emergency for COVID-19. Republicans want reel in Walz emergency powers. Senate Majority leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said the emergency powers that Gov. Tim Walz declared in March are no longer needed. “There are many things that the governor has emergency powers over that we’re saying that must end, and we need to get back to a place where the House and Senate have equal footing with the executive branch,” the top Senate Republican said.
State DFLers, however, say ending the emergency is like sticking your head in the sand. “I can’t imagine why we would support this, when our governor is doing an excellent job in putting us in a position to survive this with a minimum amount of damage,” said Sen. Jason Isaacson, DFL-Shoreview. For his part, Walz said continuing the emergency order is necessary to act nimbly in he face of a rapidly changing pandemic.
The governor is still considering a statewide mask mandate. Dr. Michael Bess, vice president of health care strategies for UnitedHealthcare, has some mask recommendations:
- Leave the N95 medical-grade masks to people who need them the most, such as health care workers and first responders.
- Disposable masks generally aren’t effective.
- Make or buy reusable, multi-layered cloth masks.
- Machine-wash them after every use.
- Your mask needs to cover your mouth down to below your chin and up and over to the bridge of your nose.
— Cody Nelson, MPR News | @codyleenelson |
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