Good morning. Mostly cloudy. Scattered rain showers northern and central Minnesota. Lows in the lower 30s to lower 40s. More on this week's weather on Updraft President Donald Trump said early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a stunning announcement that plunges the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.
Trump, who has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans, said he and Mrs. Trump were quarantining. The White House physician said the president is expected to continue carrying out his duties “without disruption” while recovering.
Still, Trump’s diagnosis was sure to have a destabilizing effect in Washington, raising questions about how far the virus had spread through the highest levels of the U.S. government.
Health workers worry fear, distrust complicate COVID-19 tracing For months, as they’ve tracked the coronavirus’ creep across the state, epidemiologists at the Minnesota Department of Health have quietly worried about the impacts of a single paragraph they’re required to read at the end of every case interview.
The health workers fear it has had an unintended chilling effect on the critical work of testing and tracing positive COVID-19 cases to stop the spread of the virus in some of Minnesota’s most vulnerable communities — a concern they’ve raised repeatedly to the highest levels of state government.
Protecting patient privacy is a core practice for infectious disease epidemiologists; to successfully track and contain diseases, they need patients to trust them with private information.
But in interviews, emails, a petition and other documents provided to MPR News, MDH epidemiologists and other health department employees involved in the state's COVID-19 response say the executive order that requires their department to share data with the state’s public safety department — Executive Order 20-34 — represents a breach of that trust, particularly among immigrants and communities of color, which suffer disproportionately from the ravages of COVID-19. Read more from MPR News reporter Catharine Richert.
Minnesota’s latest milestone — 100,000 total cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday — was a difficult reminder of what Health Department officials have been warning about for weeks: The pandemic is far from over.
The newest counts came amid strong testing levels — more testing typically brings more cases, and the positive test rate trended down a bit.
Still, new hospitalization rates remain their highest in months. The trend of active confirmed cases also stands at record levels.
Here are Minnesota’s current COVID-19 statistics:2,049 deaths100,200 positive cases, 89,980 off isolation 2,055,888 tests, 1,429,575 people tested4.65 percent seven-day positive test rateThe Minnesota State High School League voted Thursday to go ahead with winter sports seasons, with a 30 percent reduction in games and matches.
The schedule includes a 17-week season for basketball and a 15-week season for hockey, the state’s two highest-profile winter sports. Dance, gymnastics, wrestling, nordic and alpine skiing and adaptive floor hockey will also go forward.
The decision doesn’t guarantee kids will take to the court, the ice, the mat, the pool or the ski hill. Participation still depends on individual districts and the status of their school options due to COVID-19.
~ Matt Mikus, MPR News |
