During the pandemic, states enacted numerous restrictions to curb the transmission of the virus. One of those restrictions was a stay-at-home order. In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime…
Earlier today, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported 1,197 new positive COVID-19 cases. This is one of the lowest numbers in recent weeks. Even better, MDH reported zero COVID-19…
On April 15, the Minnesota Department of Health released data suggesting that alcohol-related deaths rose in 2020. Generally, fully alcohol-attributed deaths, defined as “deaths that would not have happened if…
Ban on elective surgeries and procedures reduced hospital and clinic volumes, costing the health care industry jobs as well as revenue.
Last year, we released a report titled ‘Minnesota’s Border Battles‘ in which we compared the economic outcomes in Minnesota counties bordering other states with the outcomes in the border counties…
Once again, we are reminded about how throughout the pandemic, a big emphasis was placed on feel-good actions that have little impact on COVID-19 outcomes.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year it revealed a couple of major flaws in Minnesota’s health care system. One was the moratorium on building new hospitals. Without this, we…
Minnesota has been in the news recently, and not for a good reason. Even with all its strict rules, Minnesota has been labeled a COVID-19 hotspot. The fact that cases…
Today, WCCO reports: A new survey ranks Minnesota just outside the top 10 among states with the most COVID-19 restrictions in place. WalletHub has been ranking states periodically during the pandemic,…
As COVID-19 vaccines have become available, the question has been asked ‘Who gets them first?’ We want to be lead by ‘the science’ and that tells us that “Vaccinating older…
On March 2nd, Governor Gregg Abbot issued an executive order lifting Texas’s mask mandate and fully reopening the state. Proponents of lockdowns argued that this decision would kill Texans. Three…
There is no other group in Minnesota that is more vulnerable than the elderly–people aged 65 and over account for about 15% of the total population in Minnesota, yet they…
A new bill introduced in the Minnesota Senate will allow a physician not licensed in Minnesota to provide telehealth services in Minnesota.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 deaths in the first half of 2020 as well as deaths from other causes that accompanied the pandemic, like overdoses, cut life expectancy by 1…
Numerous factors–like seasonality, herd immunity, less testing–can explain the trend for declining COVID-19 cases. What is, however, not a contender as a possible explanation for falling cases nationwide is COVID-19…
This is the essential problem with Gov. Walz' ongoing emergency powers: whole swathes of the state's economy are dependent for their survival on the whim of one man.
Back in August, Minnesota's Department of Health put out a video saying: "There is no return to normal, but, going forward, we will return to something more”
Covid-19 non-ICU hospitalizations are also down, by 71% from their late November peak.
Covid-19 non-ICU hospitalizations are also down, by 67% from their late November peak.
Sensible policy will come from weighing the costs of policy actions against the benefits. Too often during this pandemic, policymakers have oversold the benefits and downplayed the costs.
Minnesota's record low flu season continues. Either the number of people suffering with seasonal flu isn't down - or at least isn't down by that much - but they are…
Many states, including Minnesota, made temporary changes to their licensing requirements in health care in order to allow residents to access health care services from out of state providers during…
Minnesota is lagging in its neighbors in administering the Covid-19 vaccine and Gov. Walz will only have the Trump administration to blame for another 48 hours.
Covid-19 non-ICU hospitalizations are also down, 62% from their late November peak.