Minnesota National Guard
Officials have identified a “significant increase” in COVID-19 cases in Ely, which has affected public health in St. Louis County. Louis should remind people to get tested and quarantined if they have been exposed to prevent further transmission of the virus.
“We know that people are tired and have probably faced an overload of information about COVID precautions in the last year,” said the director of public health in St. Louis. Louis, Amy Westbrook, in a statement.
“But outbreaks like the ones we’ve seen in some of our communities in the last two weeks make it very clear that we can’t stand guard yet. Vaccinations make a difference, but we must all remain vigilant and do our part to minimize the spread of this virus. “
In the last week, there were 33 cases confirmed by COVID-19 in Ely, which represents 15% of the total cases for the whole county of St. Louis.
St. Louis Public Health says some of the cases “appear to be related to travel,” but others are related to social gatherings and youth sports.
Related [March 22]: Some parents avoid COVID tests for children to maintain school and sports
Anyone who has spent 15 minutes or more at a distance of 6 feet from someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 should be quarantined for 14 days, regardless of whether it is symptomatic or not, except for people who are fully vaccinated. and at least 14 days have passed since the final dose of COVID vaccine, the county says.
Meanwhile, St. Louis County Public Health is working with schools to provide test kits for students who may be asymptomatic. People can order an online saliva test kit online from the Minnesota Department of Health online or they can be tested at Essentia Health Ely Clinic (other test locations can be found here).
Anyone who has symptoms, has been exposed to COVID-19 or has attended an indoor meeting or event should be tested for COVID-19. The Department of Health also encourages students to be tested at least once every two weeks, and student-athletes to be tested weekly.
The outbreak in Ely occurs as cases of COVID-19 have evolved upwards in Minnesota, especially after an increase in cases of variant B.1.1.7 which was first discovered in the United Kingdom. This variant was liked by an outbreak in Carver County, related to youth sports and other outbreaks in Scott, Blue Earth and St. Louis counties. Louis.
Minnesota typically had about 1,000 confirmed cases a day in the last week for up to 10 days, and hospitalizations rose from a low of 220 in early March to 332 (as of March 23).