Health experts discuss possibility of second COVID-19 wave
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As COVID-19 postivie test results continue to come in across the country, some states that have reopened are rethinking their decision.
In Arizona, some businesses that opened are closing again.
"I think what we're seeing in other states with regard to a second wave or a second round could be the result of opening up," said Kris Ehresmann, with the Minnesota Department of Health.
Ehresmann says in the U.S., it is perhaps a continuation of the first wave.
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FILE - This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, U.S. health regulators OK'd the first coronavirus test that allows people to collect their own sample at home, a new approach that could help expand testing options in most states. The sample will still have to be shipped for processing back to LabCorp, which operates diagnostic labs throughout the U.S.[NIAID-RML via AP]
However, in China, more cases mean Beijing is locking down some residential areas.
"When we see what is happening in China, it tells us that this is a very wiley virus and it's best not to think we know everything there is to know about it in just 6 months," she said. " It's certainly a resurgance that is coming after a break.
Experts agree Minnesotans have done a good job keeping the disease peak at bay.
"We significantly changed the behavior of this disease in Minnesota and I would like for us not to have a short term memory issue, the virus hasn't gone away," said Dr. Tim Sielaff, Chief Medical Officer with Allina Health.
Sielaff says wearing masks, washing hands, social distancing and staying home when sick is now plateauing cases here.
But he says we need to stay vigilant and keep doing those things.
So will Minnesota see a second wave?
"I think it's very likely if we don't see cases now in the next few weeks during our summer months, it's very likely we will see more cases in the fall," said Ehresmann.
"If we remember the really good work that we did as a state, as communities, and apply that to the future, there's no reason the second wave in Minnesota needs to be inevitable," adds Sielaff.