According to top health officials, Minnesotans are to blame for any new additional Covid-19 restrictions
Since the beginning, COVID-19 has been a nursing home pandemic. As a matter of fact, by June, about half of all COVID-19 deaths had occurred in nursing homes. Just this time last month, out of the total 2121 COVID-19 deaths, 1513 were among residents of long-term Care facilities. By November 5, 1,777 of the total COVID-19 deaths had been in long-term care facilities.
This has not stopped the administration, along with top health officials, from blaming Minnesotans for not taking enough precautions, however.
Last Friday, close to two-thirds of COVID-19 deaths recorded on that day were residents of Long-term Care facilities. But when Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm was asked whether Minnesota state officials were considering further restrictions, she emphasized the failure of Minnesotans to take precautions.
She said officials continue to discuss what measures are likely to work best, but said Minnesotans aren’t following current guidance.
“If Minnesotans were following the guidance that currently exists, we wouldn’t need further dial backs, but just given the fact we’ve not seen those behavior changes, we just need to keep getting that message out,” she said.
Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann encouraged Minnesotans to curb risky behavior in order to stop the virus’ spread to stop the filling of hospitals and the growth in deaths.
“We really need people to take this thing seriously and to make some changes so that we can be ahead of this and not be responding downstream,” she said
She is not the only one who holds that opinion,
“If people don’t limit their social circle and wear masks, it’s going to mean we have to lock down again — likely across the holiday season,” said Dr. John Hick, an HCMC physician who is coordinating regional hospital response efforts. “[It] would be regrettable, because we can take actions to limit spread — but we’re losing control of the infections right now.”
New Restrictions
This is why, despite no evidence supporting the idea that people are not taking precautions, new restrictions have been added as of today per Governor Walz’s order.
Responding Tuesday to the surging COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tim Walz announced dial-back measures that close bars and restaurants at 10 p.m. and restrict the sizes of weddings, funerals and indoor and outdoor gatherings.
“We turned our dials [forward]; we are going to have to turn them back a bit today,” Walz said during an afternoon news conference.
…..
In addition to early closing times, counter service will not be permitted at bars, and social games such as darts and pool will not be allowed. Takeout service can continue after 10 p.m., though, and service at cafeteria-style counters can continue.
Group gatherings will be limited to 10 people, indoors and outdoors, from no more than three households.
Wedding and funeral reception crowd sizes also will be limited due to state health data showing that those events have spawned numerous outbreaks this fall and summer. The reductions will be phased in to allow for immediate events in the coming days to proceed as planned. The ceremonies will not affected.
Misplaced priorities
Young people are indeed making up increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases. However, high-risk individuals continue to make up the majority of deaths. And those happen to be, for the most part, residents of long-term care facilities.
Instead of prioritizing safety measures for the most vulnerable, the Walz administration continues to hit business establishments with new laws without outlining how these new protections will reduce COVID-19 deaths.
Small businesses will likely continue to suffer, even if new laws do nothing to improve COVID-19 outcomes, particularly among the most vulnerable.