Caron: Stay at home is working

Nearly two-thirds of the area’s coronavirus cases have fully recovered while Steele and Dodge counties have seen hardly any new cases over the past week, Public Health Director Amy Caron said Monday.
Of the nine confirmed cases in Steele County, six are out of insolation with the assumption that they will recover, Caron said. In Dodge County, 13 of the 18 confirmed cases are out of isolation. There still have been no deaths connected to the outbreak in either county.
“It’s a good thing,” Caron said of the coronavirus cases in Steele and Dodge counties. “We’re still fairly low numbers, especially in Steele,” she said. She warned, however, that as the numbers increase, there could be an increase in deaths locally.
To this point, Caron said Steele and Dodge counties have in effect dodged the bullet with COVID-19. “I did expect it to climb higher and faster than it has,” Caron said.
But she is quick to point to the reason why it hasn’t climbed any higher. “It proves our stay-at-home order is working,” said Caron. “We would be sitting in a whole different spot if that wasn’t put in place. The majority of people are doing the right thing by staying at home when they need to.”
The current shelter in place order remains in effect until May 4. While it’s still about 10 days away, Caron expects it to continue beyond May 4. “I would not be surprised if (the governor) continues with the stay-at-home order with some exceptions,” Caron said. She added the key will be a “slow integration” with bringing people back to out into society.
Asked why Dodge County has double the cases of Steele, Caron speculates that it is due to the number of cases involving healthcare workers, who commute to work in Rochester.
The number of cases in Freeborn County rose to 27 over the past week while Mower County has seen 25 cases. No deaths have been reported in either of those counties.
The first death reported in this region came last week in Rice County. Rev. Craig Breimhorst, who had currently been serving at a church in Dodge County, died from COVID-19 complications. Breimhorst, of Faribault, had been among the first southern Minnesotans with the virus. He had reportedly contracted the virus during a trip to Israel in early March.
New Hot Spot
On Monday, JBS USA announced the indefinite closure of its Worthington pork production facility. The plant employs more than 2,000 people and processes 20,000 hogs per day.
“We don’t make this decision lightly,” said Bob Krebs, president of JBS USA Pork. “We recognize JBS Worthington is critical to local hog producers, the U.S. food supply and the many businesses that support the facility each and every day.”
JBS becomes the second major pork plant to shut down in the past week. Last week, Smithfield in Sioux Falls closed down after more than 500 workers tested positive for the virus, becoming the biggest single-source hotspot of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Gov. Tim Walz sent a group of health care workers to Worthington over the weekend to handle the crisis. “What is learned at JBS is going to be applied to other facilities across the state,” Walz said Monday.
Minnesota Public Health Director Jan Malcom said, “This is a stunningly fast moving virus.”
As of Monday, there were 2,470 confirmed cases in Minnesota with 143 deaths. Malcom said 126 people remain in ICU across the state.
 
Area Facilities Clear
Caron is happy to report that there have been no cases in any long-term care facilities in either Steele or Dodge counties. She estimated there are about 18 facilities between the two counties with the majority of them in Steele County. Facilities include nursing homes, assisted living and group homes.
She attributes the success of keeping the virus out of the long-term care facilities to the lockdowns that the facilities took on at the start of the outbreak. Caron also said it’s because they are “monitoring their own employees and watching what is coming into their facilities.”
While she is happy with the local numbers all around, Caron also believes that there may be lots of unreported and undetected coronavirus cases out there. She said of the cases showing up, they are attributed to community spread.
Summer festivals and celebrations are beginning to cancel. Last week, Medford cancelled its annual Straight River Days celebration. “It’s unfortunate that we have to cancel these type of things, but I support that this is the right thing to do,” Caron said.
Asked about the upcoming Steele County Free Fair in mid-August, Caron said she had no recommendation at this time. “It will be a tough decision,” she said. “I don’t know where the point is to start cancelling,” she added.
Caron said part of the problem right now is that it’s unclear when the virus will peak in Minnesota. Different models have placed peak at the end of May to August. And, she warned, once Minnesota reaches peak, it doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. She added there could also be a second wave of the virus hitting.
Public Health has been collecting donations from community groups and organizations over the past few weeks. Caron said they have been receiving many donations, which have been distributed to places around the county where they are most needed.
While Caron points out that cloth masks are not ideal, they do help in curbing some of the spread. She also reminds people that cloth masks do not protect the individual wearing them, but rather other people. “We need people to practice social distancing even with the masks on,” she said.
Caron was complimentary to area businesses, especially grocery stores and convenience stores, for taking measures by placing 6-foot markers on the floors, directional arrows on the floors and Plexiglass at the checkout lines. “All those things are helping slow the community spread and give our healthcare workers the time to raise their capacity to take in ill people,” she said.
The director said she is displeased with reports of groups of individuals congregating at other people’s houses and ignoring the social distancing guidelines. Caron urged people to “go beyond ourselves and think about other people.” She reminds people that they can be carriers of the disease without being sick themselves.
“We need to be careful until we get the vaccine,” Caron says, noting there currently is no vaccine and it could be as long as 18 months before one is discovered. “We need to take any precautions we can to slow it down.”