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Credit: Office of the Governor
Governor Tim Walz will address the Minnesotans again on Friday afternoon on the state’s efforts to keep residents of long-term care facilities safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long-term care facilities have been particularly affected by the pandemic, with the number of COVID-19 cases increasing among residents and staff, forcing the state to intervene and help facilities meet health needs. staff.
According to a press release, Walz will be joined by Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Commissioner Jan Malcolm, Deputy General of the Minnesota National Guard, Major General Shawn Menke, vice president of operations at the Good Samaritan Society Nate Schema, and Executive Director at SpringBrook Village of La Crescent Christine Dallmann.
The press conference will be broadcast live at 2 p.m. on the Governor’s YouTube page here. After the address, the governor will hold a press call with reporters.
They are expected to speak to what is being done to keep residents of long-term care facilities safe and to provide an update on community transmission of COVID-19, the statement said.
The governor has not held a press conference to specifically talk about long-term care facilities for several months. In July, the governor took stock and put in place an essential care program to enable some visitors to long-term care facilities, with the aim of improving the well-being of residents isolated from their loved ones due facilities not allowing guests.
Two months earlier, in May, the state launched a five-point long-term care plan aimed at making facilities safer and reducing epidemics among seniors in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
MDH’s November long-term care response update (the December one is not yet available) indicates that as of November 3, 8% of the state’s 368 nursing homes did not have reported COVID-19 cases and 60% of the state’s 1,692 assisted living facilities had not reported a case, MDH noting that the number of care facilities that have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks has slowed “considerably” in during the summer, but has since resumed.
As of Thursday, December 3, there have been 333,626 positive cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota and 3,784 deaths, according to MDH data.
Of all deaths from COVID-19 in Minnesota, 69% (2,620 deaths) were likely exposed to the disease in a group care / long-term care facility, according to MDH data. Nineteen percent of hospitalizations, 18% of ICU admissions and 8% of all cases have group care listed as likely exposure.
A total of 26,100 cases have been linked to collective care facilities, with 14,110 cases reported among residents and 12,353 cases among staff. In addition, 3,104 collective care facilities have had confirmed cases of COVID-19 – 348 facilities across the state have had 21 or more cases.
According to KNSI radio, as of December 1, MDH was assisting 56 long-term care facilities with staffing needs, including dispatching the National Guard and recruiting volunteers. Meanwhile, MDH plans to reassign state employees to help with the facilities.
Malcolm told the radio station that the best way to protect long-term care employees and residents is to manage community transmission of COVID-19.
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