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COVID-19 Case Rate Affects MSU Mask Protocol | Local News

 


Mankato — Blue Earth County was not considered a COVID-19 hotspot as of Monday, but due to the rapid spread of Delta variants, health officials predict that more counties will reach it soon. ..

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that 44 counties in Minnesota had a fairly high prevalence of COVID-19, including Rushua, Waseca, Sibley, and Faribaud counties in the South Central region. Blue Earth County was one of the other five counties in the region with moderate to low transmission levels.

A further increase in cases could affect whether the university needs a mask after classes are resumed in the coming weeks.

Recent CDC guidance requires masking indoors in counties where transmission levels have been found to be fairly or high. The Minnesota State University System, including Mankato’s Minnesota State University, advised educational institutions to follow the CDC Mask Guidance.

Some institutions in the system are in counties with sufficient transmission speeds to encourage the mask protocol on campus. Due to the currently low rates in Blue Earth County, MSU officials will carefully monitor incident trends before the next semester begins on August 23, and MSU’s Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Brian Martinsen said.

“We will continue to monitor trends,” he said. “If we fall into that substantive category and seem to tend to stay there, consider changing the protocol.”

The university’s current protocol does not include mask requirements. Higher transmission rates over a sustained period, rather than blip above the threshold, can drive change.

“Now we are between the summer session and the fall,” Martensen said. “We have time to make these decisions.”

The University of Minnesota system has announced that masks will be required indoors on all five campuses starting Tuesday.

The Minnesota State University system sent information to the MSU and other institutions, informing them that the mask protocol was ready if the number of cases continued to grow. MSU recently did the same for its staff.

When the CDC’s new guidance was announced in late July, only 14 counties in Minnesota met a sufficiently high transmission rate bill. Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a briefing with reporters that he was 44 years old as of Monday and that the number “will definitely increase in the next few days.”

“There are a lot of viruses that travel around the country, and they’re here in Minnesota,” she said.

State leaders can no longer require masks as in the early days of the pandemic, as Governor Tim Walz no longer has urgent authority. Cities and counties could choose to do so, Malcolm said. Companies can do that too, and Target is up to date on Monday.

She clarified that the mask is just one layer of effective protection against the virus. Staying at home when you’re sick, and above all, getting vaccinated are other important strategies to protect yourself and the people around you.

The updated mask recommendations do not mean that the vaccine will not work, Malcolm said. She shares data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, and breakthrough cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are extremely rare among unvaccinated individuals, well below 1% in all three measurements. The analysis did not include Minnesota, but she said the state had similarly promising results among vaccinated residents.

The move to recommend masks to vaccinated individuals is because new studies show that they can spread the virus to people who are still more vulnerable.

“In rare cases, the CDC has discovered that fully vaccinated people can still infect others with the virus,” Malcolm said. “In addition to this small risk, the fact that highly contagious delta variants circulate makes masking a wise safeguard.”

Following news of the rapid spread of delta variants, vaccination rates appeared to have risen slightly across the state. No noticeable rise has yet been seen in south-central Minnesota, said Eric Weller, coordinator of the South Central Healthcare Union.

He said the start of the next school could have an impact. More parents may want to vaccinate their children over the age of 12 before returning to class.

As of Monday, about 59% of the population over the age of 12 had been vaccinated at least once in a county in south-central Minnesota. The state-wide rate is 68.8%.

Like Malcolm, Weller expects more counties to tend towards higher transmission rates. He said Delta is much more infectious than previous strains and is now a “unvaccinated pandemic.”

“That really means a problem for people who aren’t protected because they’ve never been vaccinated,” he said. “The best tool you need to fight COVID-19 is one of three highly effective, free and safe vaccines.”

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