The deaths in long-term care facilities that fueled the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota have dropped tenfold since the state launched an aggressive testing and staffing plan to protect workers and residents.
Gov. Tim Walz and state health officials acknowledged shortcomings in their initial response to COVID-19 outbreaks in these vulnerable facilities — which were exacerbated by a lack of federal emergency support and supplies — but said on Tuesday that the state has learned from those early experiences about how to protect them.
At a peak of the pandemic in mid-May, 23 facilities were reporting new outbreaks every day of at least one case of the infectious disease. Now, that rate is 6 per day. The state lost 137 long-term care residents to COVID-19 deaths in the third week of May, compared with 13 last week. Continue reading.