Coronavirus in one state (157)

My pace in covering the course of the epidemic and related developments in Minnesota has slackened along with the Minnesota Department of Health’s pace in responding to my questions under the terms of their settlement agreement with me. I have yet to receive responses to my questions submitted on March 7 and March 14. They have finally responded to my question regarding cases traced to tribal casinos. It is a question I submitted on December 26.

We will get to the MDH response presently. I should probably lead with it. Please note: it is a Power Line exclusive.

Governor Walz and his flacks have touted his turning of the dials of our lives toward opening. Despite the recession of the epidemic, a year since he called for a brief timeout to “flatten the curve” and deal with an alleged public health emergency, he continues to exercise one-man rule as both chief executive and lawmaker.

Walz’s allowances in the “major rollback of state’s COVID-19 restrictions” are summarized in his press release summarizing Executive Order 21-11, effective at noon on March 15, 2021. The executive order “takes steps to further reopen Minnesota’s economy safely.” Here are the highlights as touted by King Tim:

Social gatherings:

Limit indoor social gatherings to no more than 15 people total.
Limit outdoor social gatherings to no more than 50 people total.

Restaurants and bars:

Indoor dining: 75% capacity, 250 people max.
Outdoor dining: 250 people max. 6 feet must be maintained between parties at different tables.
Table size must be limited to six people. Bar seating is open to parties of four. All patrons must be seated.

Gyms, fitness centers, yoga studios, etc. are open at 50% capacity, 250 people max.

Pools are open at 50% capacity, 250 people max. 6 feet of social distancing is required.

Organized sports practices and games are allowed with limited spectators according to appropriate venue capacity restrictions.

Salons and barbers are open at 100% capacity. Social distancing and masks required.

Places of worship, religious services, weddings, and funerals are open at 100% capacity. Social distancing and masks required.

Private celebrations, including receptions related to weddings and funerals:

Limited to 50% of the venue’s normal capacity, up to 250 people.
Table size is limited to six, and guests must be seated while eating and drinking.

Beginning April 1, larger venues, restaurants, bars, gyms, pools, and other settings may exceed 250 people per applicable percentage limits and guidance.

Beginning April 15, the requirement to work from home shifts to a strong recommendation. Employers are strongly encouraged to allow employees who can work from home to continue and to implement reasonable accommodations for at-risk employees, or employees with one or more members of their household who have underlying medical conditions and are not yet eligible for vaccination.

These allowances put me in mind of the famous salute of the condemned naval gladiators to the Emperor Claudius: “We who are about to die salute you.”

Here is the department’s verbatim response to my December 26 question on cases traced to tribal casinos (slightly reformatted):

We are responding with this email to your request for data on cases associated with tribal casinos. The data we have on cases associated with casinos is limited because we do not ask specifically in case interviews about casinos. The data we have is from the self-disclosure of people who’ve tested positive and are interviewed.

The self-disclosures are made when they are asked in case interviews about their visits to restaurants during the 14-day exposure period before onset of symptoms, or to open-ended questions about their attending other events or social settings.

Often, a person will report having visited multiple hospitality establishments during their exposure period. Since June through the end of February, we have identified cases of COVID-19 in 380 patrons who can be considered part of outbreaks associated with casinos in Minnesota.

For perspective, over the same time period, we have identified cases of COVID-19 in 8,358 patrons who can be considered part of outbreaks associated with bars and restaurants. From the beginning of June 2020 to the end of February 2021, just under 62% of the over 458,000 Minnesota COVID-19 cases had completed case investigation interviews.

An outbreak in these hospitality-type settings is defined as 5 or more cases from 5 or more different households that reported visiting that establishment in the last 28 days (before November 13, 2020, the threshold was 7 or more cases). This high threshold allows us to say that it is likely that transmission was occurring at a particular establishment during a certain time period, however, we cannot say that a particular establishment was the source of infection for any particular individual, especially considering the overwhelming amount of community transmission now occurring in the state.

As with any setting, people can reduce their risk in casinos by wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. It is our understanding that tribal casinos in Minnesota have been enforcing strict masking, distancing, and sanitation protocols.

To obtain a complete perspective, we suggest you contact tribal health programs.

Since I last reported, the Department of Health held press briefings on March 5, 8, 9, 15, 17, and 19. When is the public health emergency under which Governor Walz rules as executive and legislator to end? I am having a hard time extracting an answer from the department regarding the criteria that would suggest the emergency is over, as it obviously is, assuming it ever was one.