Local positive COVID-19 testing rates remain high | Local news

Mankato — COVID-19 positive test rates in south-central Minnesota remained above state-wide standards this week.

According to data from the Minnesota Department of Health, 7.1% of the 8,287 tests combined regional counties with positive cases between September 1st and 8th. The state-wide rate for the same period was about 5.1% — rates above 5% are considered a measure of concern.

Although still high, rates in the South Central region showed another spark of improvement, much like the many school bells rang in the New Year.

The rate dropped slightly from 7.4% to 7.1%. It has been declining every week since it peaked at 8.3% between August 11th and 18th.

This week’s decline appeared to be the result of new tests outpacing new cases. In this region, tests increased by 6.9% and cases increased by 2.4%.

Increasing cases have been common over the last two months. However, the pace seems to be slowing down.

Health officials pointed it out at the state-wide level during a briefing with a reporter on Thursday. According to Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, test-positive rates remain above 5% across the state, but there are signs of improvement.

“The slightly better news is that the rate of increase has slowed a bit,” she said.

A similar pattern appeared around this time last year. Case numbers and positive rates soared in late summer, bounced low in early fall, and worsened than ever in November 2020.

Derek J, a local data analyst at the COVID Tracking Project. Wingert said in an email that it’s a “sensitive time” in the pandemic, given how last year went from here. The mitigation of positive rates, coupled with a slowdown in cases, has been encouraging over the past few weeks — the delay in reporting on Labor Day’s weekend adds some turbidity to this week’s data — but still vaccinated. No students are back in school, he added.

Malcolm and Minnesota Board of Education Heather Mueller urged the Board of Education to adopt a layered mitigation strategy as a way to protect students while maintaining face-to-face learning.

“For highly infectious diseases, the decisions you make as an individual do more than just affect you,” Malcolm said. “It has a spillover effect.”

South Central Minnesota has recently exceeded 50% of the total fully vaccinated population. It has also reached 60% of the fully vaccinated population over the age of 16.

Despite increasing reports of breakthrough COVID-19 cases, Dr. John Oholo, an expert on Mayo Clinic infections, said vaccination remains highly effective against the more contagious delta mutants. Said that it was a target.

“The groundbreaking cases tend to be less serious and much less frequent,” he said. “Nationwide, we find that areas with high vaccination rates are less affected by delta variants.”

Ohoro spoke at another briefing with a reporter on Thursday hosted by the Mayo Clinic. He used analogies to explain how vaccines protect people better.

People who are vaccinated with COVID-19 are basically training their immune system in a safe way. When a person is exposed to or exposed to COVID-19, their immune system is ready and trained for it.

This is like a way doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc. use simulation and classroom settings to train CPR, Ohoro said. Drill to be as effective as possible.

In contrast, gaining immunity through infection cannot provide the same preparation.

“Infecting without it is a lot like having to do CPR for the first time when a 911 operator is teaching you how to do it over the phone,” he said. “It’s possible, but doing it right is much more stressful, difficult, and much more difficult.”

At least this week, the three regions with the highest vaccination rates had the lowest positive test rates. At least 51.1% of the total population is fully vaccinated, in the order Nicollet County, Brown County, and Blue Earth County.

Brown County’s positive test rate was stable at 5.2% from the previous week, again the lowest in the region. The decline from 6.5% to 5.3% in Blue Earth County and from 6.8% to 5.6% in Nicollet County was an improvement.

The percentages in the Le Sueur, Sibley and Faribault counties exceeded 10%, with Faribault county having the highest percentage at 10.9%. Le Sueur County has the fourth highest immunization rate in the region at 48.6%, while Faribo and Sibley County have two lower immunization rates at 45.6% and 43.6%.