If you have time to take in one video on COVID-19, I recommend the Power Point presentation by Kevin Roche immediately below. Kevin originally gave the presentation via Zoom to the Edina Morningside Rotary Club. I watched it live on December 1 thanks to the kind invitation of Dan Hunt and found it to be among the most educational presentations I have seen on the epidemic. Constrained by time from completing his presentation on December 1, Kevin has now finished it up for the video he posted to YouTube yesterday. Silence!
In the interest of completeness I have posted video recordings of the Minnesota press briefings on the planned rollout of the vaccine in Minnesota below. The point of these two presentations was to foster trust in the vaccine and the plan of distribution (which is to follow CDC guidance). On Tuesday Governor Walz convened the briefing — this one by Power Point as well — along with Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann, and Dr. Jill Amsberry, a pediatrician representing the Minnesota Medical Association. This presentation focused on the vaccine distribution plan.
Walz followed the initial presentation with yet another briefing on the rollout of the vaccine, this one featuring state legislative leaders from both parties. The interest in this one is not high either. If you have found inspiration of any kind in Governor Walz’s twisted rhetorical flights, however, I direct your attention to his praise of President Trump’s role in Operation Warp Speed at about 10:30. Recognizing that fairness obligated him to take the good with the bad, Walz reflected: “We don’t just get to pick and choose because you decide to not.” That’s what the man said.
Yesterday Commissioner Malcolm and Director Ehresmann held the regularly scheduled MDH briefing. They continue to await evidence of the dreaded Thanksgiving effect on the course of the epidemic. Despite the 82 new deaths attributed to the epidemic yesterday — 51 of the 82 among residents of long-term care facilities — they are tentatively optimistic about the moderation of the current wave of the epidemic.
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