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Minnesota’s total ICU capacity has fallen by 229 beds – 10.6% – since early October
in Health Care
Admissions are surging so why is capacity falling?...
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The data show that restaurants and bars have been linked with just 1.7% of Minnesota’s Covid-19 cases since June 10th
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Since Minnesota's second surge in cases began in mid-September, more cases have been traced to care homes than bars and restaurants. Gov. Walz has got his priorities wrong. ...
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Minnesotans are in a battle with Covid-19, but state government and local media should stop scaremongering
in Health Care
Our state faces a very serious problem with Covid-19: our care homes remain disaster areas and ICU occupancy continues to rise. State government and local media should not be trying to scare us unduly. ...
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More evidence shows that lockdowns have been detrimental to children`s mental health
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Evidence from a new CDC report shows that lockdowns have had a detrimental effect on the mental health and wellbeing of children. ...
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Six months on, Gov. Walz’ ‘Five-Point Plan for protecting Minnesota’s Long-Term Care residents and workers from Covid-19’ is failing
in Health Care
Since Gov. Walz launched his Five-Point Plan to protect Minnesota’s Long-Term Care residents and workers from Covid-19, care home residents have accounted for 69% of all the state's Covid-19 deaths....
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Where does Minnesota stand in its fight against Covid-19?
in Health Care
Back in September, I wrote: For the time being at least, while COVID-19 is still with us, the data is clear: The emergency period of this pandemic is over. I wrote this because, as I've argued, the share of Minnesota’s ICU beds in use is the correct benchmark for whether we are in an emergency or not. And: ICU hospitalizations, the health department said, surged from an average of 111 for the seven days up to and including July 18 to 154 for the seven days up to and including Aug. 10 — still below any time between May 6 and June 29....
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Minnesota’s shortage of trained ICU nurses shows why we should join the national Nurse Licensure Compact
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Gov. Walz was correct to sign an order allowing healthcare workers licensed in other states to work in Minnesota. If this is good policy in time of a crisis, it is something we ought to look at permanently. That means joining the national Nurse Licensure Compact. ...
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Minnesota’s Covid-19 model is coming back. Will it be any more accurate this time around?
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Minnesota's Covid-19 model makers are getting a chance to redeem their failure. ...
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COVID Cases Surge In Europe
in Health Care
Last week, my colleague, John Phelan, did a very good job of presenting the case that Europe was experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases despite the broad perception that they are doing a much better job of containing than we are in the United States. It helps to see the trend with graphs, which I have included below. I'd also encourage you to read John's article for additional context. The graphs below are from Worldometers. Denmark France Germany Italy UK ...
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Europe’s COVID-19 experiences show that mitigation measures can only mitigate, they cannot stop the spread of the virus
in Health Care
As the Italian and German examples show, Gov. Walz was probably correct in March when he said that the spread of Covid-19 couldn't be stopped....
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