Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said they continue to receive many questions about the mask’s mandate. People who are exempt from wearing them include anyone with a medical or mental health condition that makes wearing a mask difficult. Malcolm adds that children 5 and under are also exempt, and children under 2 should not wear face masks. For children over 2 years old, MDH recommends using a face covering if they can.
“We think masking helps,” said Malcolm. “However, masking is not in itself a magical response. It is still necessary to maintain a social distance, to avoid prolonged contact in crowded places, especially indoors.”
The intent of the face mask mandate is to reinforce the expectations of Minnesotans, not just leave it to local governor units or employers, Malcolm said. The governor said the intention is to comply, not to enforce.
“Anyone with jurisdictional roles is not looking to deliver tickets, but there is an associated misdemeanor ticket. I think the hope and the intention is for people to understand the importance of this,” said Malcolm.
MDH director of the Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control, Kris Ehresmann, said the state is seeing more cases in younger, working-age residents. For that reason, it reminds those who consider their roles in life before deciding to participate in a situation where social distancing is not an option. Minnesota no longer sees workplaces as a source of transmission. Instead, it is the people who participate socially.
“Do you work in a child care setting? Are you a health worker?” Ehresmann prompted him.
Malcolm corrected the average age of positive cases that continued to drop on Friday. The average age is currently 36 years, a drop of 1.3 years in a week and 40 years from a month. The reason is related to more general availability of evidence, as the state focused on long-term care facilities and initially assembled when the COVID-19 outbreak began. However, Malcolm expresses concern that younger people are contracting the virus.
Alice Roberts-Davis, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Administration, said the situation involving medical supplies and PPE remains a “challenging situation” and “high demand.” She noted that it is a 24-hour job each day to ensure that health workers receive an adequate supply.
She says she is not concerned with the current status due to the amount in the state’s hospitals and warehouse. The state warehouse is a companion to health care providers in Minnesota. They work with regional health care coalitions for supplies; If they are not successful, they can request supplies from the state.
“Health care facilities are at or beyond where they should be for PPE since the start of the pandemic,” said Roberts-Davis during the call.
He added that standards-compliant gloves are the most difficult to find, as well as N-95 masks. To combat the problem with masks, MDH partnered with the University of Minnesota to obtain masks to meet the necessary safety requirements. Roberts-Davis said the state is waiting for two million respirators.
According to Roberts-Davis, the state is in a better position than it was four months ago. The state has been able to create its own supply chain to ensure that PPE is available here.
Ehresmann discussed a recent report of 11 cases of severe lung injury in the state that are associated with vaping. The cases occurred in June and July in Minnesotans between the ages of 14 and 16.
Minnesota health officials warn of 11 suspected cases of lung injury associated with vaping
Ehresmann says the patients sought care with similar symptoms regarding COVID-19. All patients had a history of vaping, mainly THC. Similar reports of lung injuries were reported in California. The problem was growing in 2019 and has not disappeared, Ehresmann added.
Some other notes from Friday’s briefing include:
- MDH has been informed of scam artists posing as the department, requesting credit card information so that a test kit can be delivered to the person. Ehresmann emphasized that MDH will never do that.
- Regarding the mortality rate of COVID-19 in Minnesota, it ranges from .01% in the youngest age group to 59.1% in the group of 100 years or older. Ehresmann said the overall case fatality rate is around 3.2% and less than 1% at ages up to 50.
