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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

CORONAVIRUS

COVID-19 touches nearly all of North Country

County working closely with area schools to prep for in-class learning

David Colburn
Posted 8/19/20

REGIONAL- While county health officials focus on a recent surge in COVID-19 cases among young adults, newly released data from the Minnesota Department of Health reveals that since the beginning of …

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CORONAVIRUS

COVID-19 touches nearly all of North Country

County working closely with area schools to prep for in-class learning

Posted

REGIONAL- While county health officials focus on a recent surge in COVID-19 cases among young adults, newly released data from the Minnesota Department of Health reveals that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, positive cases have been identified in almost all of the towns in northern St. Louis County.
The department released zip code-level information last Thursday showing that the Tower area has had seven confirmed COVID-19 cases, one shy of the eight documented in Virginia.
Soudan, Ely, Cook, Orr, Babbitt, and Embarrass zip codes each have had at least one confirmed case, and possibly up to as many as five. MDH only specifies an exact number when cases exceed five in a zip code. No COVID-19 cases have been found for residents in the Angora and Crane Lake zip codes.
Of the cumulative 681 cases identified in St. Louis County, 550, or 81 percent, of those have been concentrated in Duluth, Hermantown, and Proctor, according to the county health department’s online COVID-19 dashboard.
“For St. Louis County, the experience of the Duluth area and the experience of smaller communities scattered across the Iron Range is distinct,” Public Health and Human Services Director Linnea Mirsch said on Tuesday.
Mirsch noted a precipitous drop in the average age of diagnosed cases countywide as of late.
“Let’s start with April, when it was 65 years old,” she said. “Now, in August, it is 24 years old.”
Growth in the case numbers with people between 20 and 29 years has been a significant driver of the increase the past two months, Mirsch said, but in the past two weeks it’s been those between six and 19 years-old who have had the largest number of new cases among any age group. However, the newer cases in that group are bunched at the older end of the range.
“The vast majority are in the 17, 18, and 19-year-old range,” Mirsch said. “Only six percent are under the age of 10. The majority are associated with community transmission.”
That trend and the data behind it are important as a return to school draws near. Mirsch said the department has been working with school officials throughout the county to help them understand how the data relates to their particular districts as they develop their health and safety plans.
“Every Thursday we are sending an updated data brief to all of our superintendents and heads of charter schools. Later this week we will be releasing our up-to-date zip code data,” she said. “We’re going to overlay our school district boundaries, again to provide the best information we can to school districts.”
Mirsch said that school districts outside of the Duluth metro area were “solidly under” the bar for rolling out in-person learning in September.
Aubrie Hoover is a public health educator and the health department’s liaison with school districts in northern St. Louis County. She said she’s been fielding questions from teachers, administrators, and superintendents about how to work with the COVID guidelines.
With large metropolitan school districts around the country making headlines for students and staff being diagnosed with COVID-19 right at the outset of reopening, it’s not surprising that one question on the minds of administrators has been whether they should have all students and staff pre-tested for the virus before school begins.
Hoover’s data-driven answer to them has been no.
“Our numbers are relatively low,” she said. “Our numbers today as they stand do not warrant a testing event prior to school opening, and that’s actually a good thing. If anyone is sick, we’re asking that they stay home and if they have symptoms that are COVID-like we’re asking them to reach out to their healthcare providers.”
Another prevalent question has been how schools should handle a suspected COVID case that’s discovered after they reopen.
“St. Louis County has developed a case investigation team that will be working closely with MDH and their contact tracing team,” Hoover said. “In the event someone in any one of our schools tests positive, these two teams would come in to work directly with the schools to determine who that positive case had interactions with.”
If the contacts are 49 or fewer, individuals will be contacted directly and referred to local health care providers. If it’s 50 or more, Hoover said, the county and MDH would conduct a testing event for that school.
Mirsch and Hoover are also parents with school-age children, so they understand the things parents are wrestling with as they make decisions about whether or not to send their children back to school.
“This year there’s no right or wrong answer,” Hoover said. “Family by family, it’s going to vary. Even within families they may be making different decisions for each of their children, depending on their needs.”
Mirsch noted that she’s been hearing that a lot of districts are seeing about 20 percent of their families choose distance learning. Hoover said the resulting smaller in-person class sizes might make a difference for parents who are unsure about what to do.
“The schools are seeing a decrease in their class numbers,” Hoover said. “Where they had maybe 20 to 25, they’re seeing under 20 this year. If you know your class is going to be smaller, you know your child is going to be interacting with less children.”
As the department has conducted training for schools, and through her interactions with various districts, Hoover had high praise for the collaboration among districts as they have shared tips and strategies.
“I’ve been in awe of the partnerships involved and the teamwork,” she said. “They have put in so much work, and my appreciation is off the charts, especially as a mother of four with kids in school this year.”
Mirsch said the department would continue to support local decisions, planning, and responses.
“These are big decisions for our schools and big decisions that impact children and families,” she said. “We’re just trying our best to be a good resource.”