May 11, 2020
Below is an update on the COVID-19 pandemic as it pertains to Minnesota as of 8:45 PM on 5/11/2020.
Updates from the Governor
Department of Health officials today highlighted the importance of Minnesotans’ participation in case investigations to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Contact tracing is the process of slowing the spread of a disease by interviewing people who have tested positive to understand who they may have been in contact with while they were ill—particularly vulnerable populations. It’s a core element of a public health response to the outbreak of an infectious disease. Public health officials used contact tracing to effectively slow and stop the large measles outbreak in 2017, as well as several other outbreaks in recent years.
Additionally, the Department discussed the state’s first shipment of Remdesivir, which officials allocated to health care facilities for treatment of people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 cases. The drug has shown to help reduce the time it takes for patients to recover from COVID-19, and it can help us as a bridge to additional treatments we know will be coming in the months ahead. We’re hoping to get an additional shipment later this week.
Also today, Governor Walz signed an Executive Order allowing students in critical care sectors to attend classes for needed in-person training or testing in order to graduate. The Executive Order will fill workforce shortages by accelerating entry into critical sectors for up to 1,000 students that will serve Minnesota’s most vulnerable populations.
“We are committed to providing high-quality care for Minnesota’s most vulnerable communities,” said Governor Walz. “This Executive Order will help fill workforce shortages in critical sectors across Minnesota by creating a path for additional trained, licensed employees in sectors that are critical to protecting Minnesotans’ health, safety, and well-being.”
Everyone can work to reduce the spread of COVID-19
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with your elbow or sleeve, or a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands afterwards.
- Washing your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom or before eating. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Avoid touching your face – especially your eyes, nose and mouth – with unwashed hands.
- Stay home if you have cold- or flu-like symptoms, for seven days after your illness onset and three days after your fever resolves without fever reducing medicine (whichever is longer), and avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Up-to-date guidance from the Department of Health on recommended community mitigation strategies can be found here.
Resources
- CDC Situation Updates
- mn.gov/covid19/
- Apply for Unemployment Insurance
- Minnesota Department of Health Updates
- About COVID-19