(KNSI) – “We are at a point where we have a highly infectious virus causing a lot of illness in our state. If we want to reduce the transmission and the impact of transmission on our schools, our businesses, our families and our state, then each of us needs to do our part.”
That was what state infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said Tuesday during a Minnesota Department of Health briefing where state health leaders discussed Minnesota’s fourth wave of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations and how that risk is coalescing with the Minnesota State Fair and the start of school this month.
For almost three weeks, MDH has confirmed more than 1,000 new COVID cases per day. According to a New York Times analysis, new cases have increased 60 percent over the last two weeks, and more than 500 Minnesotans are now in the hospital due to their COVID symptoms and complications.
“It was only probably four weeks ago or so that we were under 100 total people occupying [hospital] beds for COVID,” said MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm.
At the same time, the Minnesota State Fair is getting ready to start on Thursday. Fair organizers are strongly encouraging, but not requiring, attendees to mask up and be vaccinated.
“Requirements are less common at this point in the pandemic for a number of reasons, but that doesn’t mean that recommended practices should be seen as extra or for someone else to follow through on,” Ehresmann said. “There’s a fair amount of attention right now being paid to whether something is required or recommended, and if something falls into the latter category, it’s sometimes seen as less important. But, that is not really the best way to see it, especially now with Delta circulating.”
Right now, MDH officials are recommending that fair patrons consider using multiple precautions to help prevent catching or spreading COVID, like wearing face masks, social distancing when possible, staying home when sick and getting tested for COVID after you attend.
The MDH’s recommendations align with the CDC’s nationwide guidance that people, vaccinated or not, in areas with substantial or high COVID transmission mask up in indoor public spaces and crowded areas outdoors. All of Minnesota’s counties currently fit those substantial or high COVID transmission criteria except Red Lake, Wilkin, Big Stone and Lincoln.
“We do definitely recommend that if you’ve been part of a large event or any kind of more high-risk setting that getting tested three to five days afterwards is definitely a good idea,” Ehresmann said. She added that other large, outdoor gatherings in the region this summer have produced COVID cases; the MDH recorded nine cases and one hospitalization in connection to WE Fest in Detroit Lakes and 13 cases connected to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
For fairgoers who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19, there will be an opportunity for them to get their shot, says Malcolm.
“We’re going to have vaccine availability at the fair for people who are there, and obviously that won’t confer immediate protection, but if folks are out there and have yet to be vaccinated, there’ll be more and more opportunity for them to do so.”
As for those vaccinations, they are on the rise across the state, likely driven, in part, by the urgency of the Delta variant’s spread and Minnesota’s three-week $100 vaccine incentive campaign. Malcolm says one month ago, the state was, on average, administering 2,675 first doses per day. Now, the state is averaging nearly 5,000 first doses daily.
“We’re up to 71.2 percent of Minnesotans aged 16 and over who’ve had at least their first shot,” Malcolm said. “The increased rates among 12-to-15-year-olds and 16-to-17-year-olds continues. The 12-to-15 population reached the marker of 50 percent with one dose over the weekend. We hope to see this continue to rise, especially as we close in on the start of the school year.”
Though vaccinations took a dip through July, disparities in vaccinations in Minnesota by race and ethnicity began to tighten over the summer, says MDH vaccine equity director Dr. Nathan Chomilo. He says Asian and Pacific Islander Minnesotans and white Minnesotans remain the most vaccinated groups when you look at race and ethnicity data. But, the gaps between groups are decreasing.
“Since May 1st, the gap between Native American Minnesotans and the statewide coverage has had a relative decrease of 8 percent,” Chomilo said. “For Black Minnesotans, the relative decrease has been 36 percent, and for Hispanic Minnesotans, it has been 61 percent.”
Overall, 59.1 percent of Minnesota’s total population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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