I have coordinated my continuing installments of this series with the Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 press briefings, but I missed the briefing of August 25 (audio below). Kevin Roche provides the apposite counterpoint to the briefing in his valuable post “A Quick Minnesota Update.”
Toward the end of the briefing Star Tribune reporter Chris Snowbeck asked a question about mitigation versus suppression of the disease. Implicit in the question is the issue of the authorities’ present mission. What is it? It seems to keep changing as necessary to justify the continued exercise of emergency powers by Governor Walz.
Commenting on Commissioner Malcolm’s response, Kevin reiterates a point that we made in “False alarm” (our Thinking Minnesota article, now posted online in digital form). Kevin puts it this way in his post:
The Commissioner was her usual elliptical self, but did say that suppression wasn’t possible “at the state level.” Suppression isn’t possible, period, and the costs of trying to get there, as we are constantly finding out, are enormous, a far greater health toll than that from the virus itself, not to mention the economic and social cost. But it sure seems like we are trying suppression with the completely unbalanced set of policies currently enforced by the Incompetent Blowhard [i.e., Walz].
Please read the whole thing. Kevin’s commentary continues to show up the low level of the briefings. See also his current posts “Updated Trend Chart and Tables” and “Excess Deaths in Minnesota.”
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