Coronavirus in one state (62)

There are many people in the world who say the COVID-19 epidemic will sweep us all away. Let them come to Minnesota. There are some who say that COVID-19 is the wave of the future. Let them come to Minnesota. And there are some who say in the United States and elsewhere we can work with the COVIDians. Let them come to Minnesota. And there are even a few who say that it is true that COVID-19 is an evil disease, but it permits us to make economic progress. Let them come to Minnesooota.

Strike that. Let them come, actually, to South Dakota, but it doesn’t have quite the ring to it.

Yesterday the authorities attributed 19 new deaths to the epidemic. Thirteen of the 19 occurred among residents of long-term care facilities, bringing the respective totals to 1,344 (all deaths) and 1,64 (LTC deaths). LTC deaths make up 79.1 percent of the total.

As I wrote yesterday, the age breakdown was illustrative of the relevant themes I have taken up in this series. Of the 19 new decedents, one was in his 100’s, three were in their 90’s, four were in their 80’s, five were in their 70’s, four were in their 60’s, one was in his 50’s, and one was in his 30’s (“with no underlying medical condition reported”). At last word, the median age of all decedents was 83.5 and the share of all decedents who died with serious underlying medical conditions was 98 percent. No one asked for an update at yesterday’s daily MDH press briefing (audio below).

MPR has a detailed account of yesterday’s briefing here. Toward the end of the question period, KARE 11 reporter Lou Raguse asked a question regarding racial disparities in the disease data. Lou’s question elicited a nervous six-foot distancing maneuver by Infectious Diseases Division Director Kris Ehresmann from the implication that the racial disparities might in any respect be attributable to anything other than “the social structure.”