COVID-19 Daily Briefing: Recent community testing reveals ‘uneven nature of COVID impacts’ on populations of color

Wednesday, state health officials discussed the current state of COVID-19 in Minnesota.

Here’s what was discussed:

Situation in Minnesota

Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported 304 new cases that have tested positive for COVID-19 and nine additional deaths.

Those updates bring the total number of positive cases in the state to 33,763 and the total number of deaths to 1,397.

MDH Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann said that 39.8 is the median age of those who have tested positive for COVID-19.

MDH reported, as of Wednesday, 529,643 tests have been completed.

304 new COVID-19 cases, 5 additional deaths reported by MDH

When asked if there are any reasons as to why the death rate varies between Minnesota (currently 1,397 total) and Wisconsin (currently 757 total), Ehresmann said the two states have been at different points in the outbreak during the course of the virus, adding that MDH officials have talked with Wisconsin’s health officials and have learned efforts to mitigate the virus have not varied significantly.

Meanwhile, Ehresmann said preliminary results from the last two weeks of community testing in the Twin Cities indicated a positivity rate of 0.2% among the white population tested, 1.3% among the Black population tested, 5% among the Asian American population tested and 7.4% among the Latinx population tested.

Populations of color represented about 40% of those who were tested and represented about 90% of the positive results, Ehresmann said.

"These data reinforce the concerns we’ve expressed before about the uneven nature of COVID impacts as (they) related to people of color, not because of any biological issue but rather due to differences in things like rates of underlying health conditions and job-related exposure risks," Ehresmann said. "We’re working to take into account these disparities and concerns in our testing strategies and our overall response."

Socializing at bars, restaurants during the pandemic

Ehresmann said, as bar and restaurant activity has increased, MDH has received reports of about 100 people in south-central Minnesota testing positive for COVID-19, the majority of them young adults, some of whom work in child care or health care situations.

Ehresmann issued a reminder to wear masks and practice social distancing.

"Obviously the concern is that these individuals don’t necessarily only interact with the same population that they socialize with, and so those other settings may result in additional, secondary transmission," Ehresmann said.

She went on to say, "If it’s possible for you to socialize with the … small group that’s important to you and you can do that in a setting in which you’re able to fully socially distance … that is certainly better. But I think you can still be at a bar and have a drink, but you need to make sure that it’s not crowded, that you’re attentive to the issues of social distancing."

Bars with options for outdoor seating/standing are better solutions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Ehresmann suggested.