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Melissa Turtinen
The Minnesota State Fair lasts for more than three weeks in the rearview mirror, but the state Department of Health (MDH) is still identifying new cases of COVID linked to the event.
State health officials discovered 340 cases of COVID-19 associated with the fair Thursday morning, MDH chief information officer Doug Schultz told Bring Me The News. The figure is more than double the 153 cases linked to the state fair nine days after the meeting concluded.
The number has continued to rise in recent days, but appears to be declining, Schulz said. A few more could arrive in the week or so, he added.
This figure, as with the number of COVID cases for all events, is likely an underestimate. People with mild or no symptoms and not getting tested will not show up in the numbers, and neither will those infected from other states, Schulz said. It is also likely to include people who did not necessarily contract COVID at the fair, but who attended during their likely exposure period.
The 2021 Minnesota State Fair recorded its lowest total attendance figures since 1977, with a total attendance of 1,301,584 during the 12-day event. The significant drop may have been due, at least in part, to concerns about the delta variant and the fair’s decision to encourage, but not require, face masks and vaccinations.
Case confirmations always arrive more than three weeks later, as investigations can take time.
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There is an incubation period before an infection manifests itself. Then the labs report the COVID test results to the MDH, which public health officials follow up by contacting those infected to discuss their whereabouts and who they were in the days leading up to the positive test. .
It also requires the cooperation of people living with COVID. Schulz said that right now, public health officials are interviewing about one in four cases, although they are addressing more.
MDH’s most recent outbreak report, released on September 24, found 20 outbreaks in August associated with fairs or festivals. Fifteen more that month were sports-related, eight of which were linked to weddings.
The full number can also be difficult to determine given the state has scaled back its contact tracing efforts since the start of the pandemic.
The Star Tribune recently reported that 80% of the COVID cases reported in August were from “unknown” sources, with Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm saying it is less important to know the source of each infection now than at the start of 2020, when we knew less about the virus and how it is spread.
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