With COVID-19 Cases Increasing, MDH Advises Vaccinations, Masking Across Much of Minnesota

(KNSI) – Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out new COVID-19 prevention guidance as the Delta variant spreads across Minnesota and the nation, saying that everyone in counties with substantial or high community spread of the virus should wear face masks indoors again, even if they are vaccinated. That guidance now applies to 44 Minnesota counties, including Stearns, Benton, Sherburne, Wright and Morrison.

A large swath of central and east-central Minnesota — including the St. Cloud and Twin Cities metros — are experiencing substantial community transmission of COVID-19. The CDC defines substantial community transmission as having between 50-99 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days and a test positivity rate between 8 and 9.99 percent.

Additionally, Meeker County has had high community transmission over the past seven days.

On Monday, Minnesota Department of Health leaders went into detail on the CDC’s latest recommendations, saying that vaccination is still the best preventative measure against the virus.

“We’ve documented 4,477 breakthrough cases to date,” MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said of positive COVID cases among the nearly 3 million Minnesotans who are fully vaccinated. “That is far less than 1 percent of the total people who have been vaccinated. … We’ve seen 455 people hospitalized and 56 deaths. That’s 0.016 percent hospitalized and 0.002 percent of deaths.”

As a comparison point, Minnesota’s total confirmed positive COVID cases over the course of the pandemic exceeds 613,000, with 7,674 deaths and 33,353 hospitalizations.

Malcolm adds that the prevalence of vaccination in Minnesota is expected to lessen the amount of COVID-19 deaths Minnesota will see in this latest wave of new COVID-19 infections, largely driven by the more transmissible Delta variant.

“The data from other countries as well as, so far, here in the U.S. and here in Minnesota, we are not seeing the same proportionate rise in the numbers of deaths as we have in prior waves, and that’s because the vaccines are highly, highly effective against protecting against severe disease and death,” Malcolm said. “While we do expect to see hospitalizations and deaths going up, we frankly are very hopeful that the number of deaths proportionately will continue to be much lower thanks to the vaccines.”

As for the guidance on masking up indoors from the CDC, Malcolm said she hopes people will at least consider wearing face masks in public again for that extra layer of protection from the Delta variant, vaccinated or not. She adds, however, that vaccinated people are still far less likely to contract COVID now than unvaccinated people — that can be taken into consideration when weighing whether or not to attend events or travel in light of the new guidance.

“This is not something that needs to just stop everybody in their tracks, particularly if they’re lower risk,” Malcolm said. “But, it’s a great time to just stop and think about whether the people you’re going to be with might be in a higher risk situation. I think it is going to be a decision that people have to consider based on their own risk factors and those around them.”

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