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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Local cases top last year as surge intensifies

Minnesota posts highest infection rate in U.S.

David Colburn
Posted 11/17/21

REGIONAL- New cases of COVID-19 across the North Country in recent weeks are running far ahead of the same period last year, with no sign the surge will abate any time soon. That’s despite the …

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Local cases top last year as surge intensifies

Minnesota posts highest infection rate in U.S.

Posted

REGIONAL- New cases of COVID-19 across the North Country in recent weeks are running far ahead of the same period last year, with no sign the surge will abate any time soon. That’s despite the fact that almost seven in ten people have been vaccinated against the virus.
An analysis of weekly state COVID case reports by ZIP codesby the Timberjay paints a bleak picture for the area reminiscent of the lead up to last year’s massive November/December surge. For comparable five-week periods from early October to early November, the total number of new COVID cases this year is 42 percent higher than in 2020.
Ely accounts for a significant portion of the increase with double the number of cases this year, 56, compared to 28 last year, and Cook, Orr, Tower, Soudan and Embarrass ZIPs all show year-to-year increases.
Ely also topped the most recent weekly case report on Nov. 11 with 19 new cases, followed by Cook with 14, the only two areas with double-digit increases last week.
However, Cook continued to hold the dubious distinction of having the highest rates of infection throughout the pandemic, when adjusted for population. The cumulative rate per 10,000 population reported on the St. Louis County COVID dashboard includes 1,352 for Cook, which is 14 percent higher than runner-up Tower at 1,190.2. Orr, Soudan, and Embarrass are clustered between 1,131 and 1,099. Ely has had the most cases of any North Country zip code, but with the largest population, its adjusted number of 740 is the area’s lowest.
The COVID situation in St. Louis County was looking positively rosy in mid-June through early July when only one or two new cases a day were being reported. Less than four months later, on Nov. 2, the county tallied its largest one-day total of the year with 205, and the seven-day case average has soared to 142. Regional hospitals continue to be inundated with new COVID patients and non-COVID patients whose conditions have worsened as they postponed care earlier in the pandemic. For several days last week, only one ICU bed was available in all seven northeast Minnesota hospitals with intensive care units, and only 51 non-ICU beds were open across the region.
County Public Health and Human Services Director Linnea Mirsch told the Timberjay that she remains “extremely concerned” about the increases here, particularly among school-agers in the North Country.
“Continued growth in cases in St. Louis County is particularly evident in areas with lower vaccination rates,” Mirsch said. “For the ZIP codes you referenced, from Oct. 1 through Nov. 10 of last year, there were 21 cases among children and young people ages 0-19. For that same time period this year, there have been more than double that amount with 53 new cases.”
No age group has experienced more COVID cases than those aged 10-19, and statewide vaccination rates among 16-17 year-olds are far lower than among 12-15 year-olds.
More than 44,000 Minnesota children ages 5-11 have received an initial dose of the vaccine, representing only nine percent of those eligible. National parent surveys have shown about a third of parents want to wait and see what happens with other children before getting their own children vaccinated, while between a quarter and a third of parents have said they won’t get their children vaccinated.
But Mirsch echoed the strong urgings of state and national health officials that vaccinations and booster shots remain the best answers for protecting people of all ages.
“As we head into the holiday season with families anxious to get together after so many disruptions last year, we are really encouraging people to get vaccinated if they haven’t already done so,” she said. “This includes the newly eligible children in the 5-11 age range. Likewise, anyone who is eligible for a booster, please get one and give yourself that extra level of protection. We are seeing an increasing number of breakthrough cases in people who are fully vaccinated, which we believe to be due to vaccines waning over time as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to spread.”
Statewide
When the fourth wave of the pandemic began picking up steam in southern and coastal areas of the country, cases in Minnesota remained relatively low. But the tide began rising rapidly into the upper Midwest in August and September, and Minnesota finally reached the crest on Monday, with the highest case count over the prior seven days of any state in the country. More than 23,000 new cases during that period drove the rate of infections up to 476 per 100,000, nearly three times the national average.
“We are in the middle of a COVID blizzard right now in Minnesota, so that’s a challenge,” state infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said. “If we could get people to consider implementing the layered mitigation, if we could get more people vaccinated, and if people continue to seek out boosters, that will make a difference.”
Between 30 and 40 percent of those new cases are breakthrough cases among people who have been fully vaccinated. An increase in breakthrough cases as a percentage of total cases was anticipated as the percentage of vaccinated Minnesotans grew, and research overall continues to show that vaccinated individuals are much less likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19.
In a new effort to boost vaccinations and increase the use of other mitigation strategies, such as masking, State Education Commissioner Heather Mueller announced Tuesday that the department will be sending letters to Minnesota families with school-age children with information about best practices, access to vaccinations, testing resources, and more.
The Minnesota chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and MDH are sending complementary letters to school district administrators and school boards.
Mandate battles
While numerous health care systems, government agencies, and businesses have instituted mandatory vaccination requirements on their own, the Biden administration’s plans to mandate vaccines for a huge swath of American workers is running into judicial roadblocks that could impact Minnesota’s efforts to bring the virus under control.
A three-member panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans put a temporary halt to Biden’s plan to require vaccinations or weekly testing for workers in private companies with 100 employees or more by issuing a rule through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The rule was to take effect in January. With additional cases filed in other U.S. Circuit Courts, the proposed mandate will likely make its way to the Supreme Court for a decision.
On Monday, a coalition of 12 states sued the federal government to block a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid requirement that 17 million workers in health care facilities receiving CMS funding be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. Facilities not complying with the standard risk monetary fines and possible loss of their CMS funding, a particularly critical source of revenue for rural healthcare providers. A total of 22 states have now filed lawsuits to block the mandate.