The total of deaths attributed by the authorities to COVID-19 in Minnesota reached 301 yesterday, up by 15 from the previous day’s total. The two days’ data represent a fall in the daily death toll from the previous week. I hope we are on the down slope. We should have a better idea with the release of today’s data later this morning.
One had to tune in to yesterday’s daily briefing (audio recording below) to get the necessary context to understand the deaths. According to Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm, 10 of the 15 deaths occurred among residents of long-term care facilities. Of the 15 decedents, one was in his 100’s, one was in his 90’s, two were in their 80’s, 7 were in their 70’s, and four were in their 60’s. I take it that we have a nursing home crisis on our hands. Why Governor Walz continues to keep the state on lockdown is beyond me.
The governor advertised a breakthrough in testing in one of last week’s briefings. Will the ramp-up in testing lead to our parole from lockdown? That is not clear. “With more testing, we will see more cases,” MDH Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann warned in yesterday’s briefing. “People should not be shocked or concerned….Now we have a chance to actually measure what’s happening in the community.”
Beginning at about 40:00 of the recording, several questions in yesterday’s briefing went to the data on nursing home deaths. I am unable to provide a translation of the responses. I note only that they were accompanied by a lot of hemming and hawing and a promise to get back to the questioner. I have asked the department to include me on the response, but the department’s press officers appear to have cut me off. They did not include me on yesterday’s briefing, they did not respond to my request for an explanation, and they did not acknowledge my request to be included on the response to the question about the incredibly high proportion of nursing home deaths in Minnesota.
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