No confirmed cases in Marshall area, according to Dept. of Health
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting people all over the world and locally as well. On Thursday, there were rumors of a coronavirus case being reported in Marshall. However, both Southwest Health and Human Services emergency preparedness coordinator Lauren Mellenthin and Lyon County Emergency Manager Dan DeSmet said Thursday there have been no cases of COVID-19 confirmed by the Minnesota Department of Health in Marshall.
There have been no confirmed cases in SWHHS’s six-county service area, Mellenthin said. Mellenthin said SWHHS held an informational meeting with representatives from area schools, law enforcement, churches, pharmacies and other agencies about COVID-19. Mellenthin said the meeting covered basic information about the disease, and urged area agencies to prepare for it. Area residents are still urged to wash their hands frequently with soap and water, and stay home from work and school if they feel sick, Mellenthin said.
“That is the biggest thing right now,” she said. She also said the Minnesota Department of Health is also recommending people try to limit their attendance at large public events, to help limit possible exposure to COVID-19.
The Minnesota State system of colleges and universities will be taking some extra time off this spring break to try and help fight the spread of the coronavirus across the state.
On Thursday afternoon, Minnesota State Chancellor Devinder Malhotra announced that 32 colleges and universities that are currently on spring break will suspend classes until March 23. For the five state colleges that have spring break scheduled the week of March 16-20, class won’t resume until March 30. While there won’t be class during the extra week of spring break, Minnesota State employees will be looking at alternative ways to instruct students while keeping communities safe, the announcement said. Minnesota State is also suspending all out-of-state business travel for students, faculty and staff effective March 16, the announcement said. Minnesota State had already suspended all school and business-related international travel effective Feb. 28.
COVID-19 could have a potential impact campus events for the rest of the school year. As part of Thursday’s announcement, Malhotra said events or gatherings with more than 100 attendees are canceled until May 1. At that point, the situation will be re-evaluated. Southwest Minnesota State President Kumara Jayasuriya said in a news release that “the recent outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is creating challenges and concerns for universities nationwide and around the world. The well-being of our faculty, staff, and students is of our utmost concern. As of noon (Thursday) there are no known cases of COVID-19 on our campus or within our faculty, staff, and students.”
Jayasuriya said during this extended spring break, “the campus will remain open, including residence halls, dining facilities, and student support services and offices. Faculty and staff should be prepared for work as usual. Student workers are allowed to work during this time also as assigned.” Classes will take place online starting Monday. Out-of-state business-related travel is suspended as of Monday, the news release said.
“Athletic travel is still under discussion. University-related international travel continues to be suspended. Any events of greater than 100 attendees, that were to be held on campus, will be canceled through May 1.” In a media briefing Thursday, MDH Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann said at this time the MDH is not recommending that schools close.
Children under 19 are at the lowest risk from COVID-19, she said, and closing schools could also have unintended consequences like children not having access to nutrition and other services from their schools. However, Ehresmann said, “We are asking schools to start taking steps to start social distancing,” the practice of not having a lot of close contact with other people. The MDH is recommending schools reduce the number of large assemblies they hold, and to stagger recess or dismissal times to avoid having large groups of students together at once.
Ehresmann said MDH is also recommending schools limit inter-school interactions, and implement e-learning if needed. Administrators from area schools and school districts, including Lakeview and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, said they aren’t limiting classes or school activities yet.
Lakeview Superintendent Chris Fenske, RTR Superintendent David Marlette, and Samuel Lutheran School Principal Ryan Obry all said their schools have been following along with information from the MDH. Representatives from their schools had also taken part in the SWHHS informational meeting. “We’ll do what we need to do to keep students safe,” Marlette said, but so far there haven’t been cases reported in the area, or recommendations to close schools. “At this point, there are no recommendations to cancel anything,” Fenske said. Josh Langseth, Holy Redeemer School principal, said he is following the Catholic school guidelines and recommendations of MDH. “We have upped our sanitation procedures,” Langseth said. “And we are asking for students and teachers to not drink out of the drinking fountains, but to fill water bottles at water stations.”
Ehresmann said the MDH is doing coronavirus testing for over 100 patients a day. “Our lab is testing roughly several hundred specimens each day,” she said. However, she said MDH is focusing on doing tests for people with the highest likelihood of having or being exposed to COVID-19. Ehresmann said in the future the response to COVID-19 will be shifting from containing the virus to community mitigation. “We’re moving into a phase where people’s personal lives may be affected,” even if they are healthy, she said. Those changes will probably not be short-term either, she said.
On Thursday, Prairie Home Hospice and Community Care announced it will be restricting visitors at all of its residential facilities to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Restrictions will be in place at Lockwood Hospice House and McLaughlin Hospice House in Marshall, and Fieldcrest Assisted Living in Cottonwood. Effective today, access to all three facilities will be restricted to immediate family, employees and volunteers.
“Hopefully, the steps we and other facilities are taking locally, as well as steps being taken across the state, country and world will help curb the spread of COVID-19,” said Prairie Home CEO Pat Mellenthin.
“There’s no doubt this is going to create some inconveniences and hardships, but we’re all in this together and we all have a responsibility to do what we can to get this under control. We hope in a few short weeks we’ll be able to look back and say the steps we all took to control the spread and protect people were effective.” For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms like fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.
Several medical and health care facilities have limited visitation:
• This week, Avera Marshall announced it will be taking steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, including limiting visitors at the hospital and long-term care facility.
• Boulder Estates as of Wednesday has a message on its website, www.boulderestates.org: “Based on recommendations from the Center for Disease Control, Boulder Estates is now limiting visitors to essential personnel only for precautionary measures.”
• As of Tuesday Heritage Pointe Senior Living had issued the following notice on its Facebook page, “In response to COVID-19, as a preventive measure we are limiting visitors to our community to help maintain the health and safety of those we serve.”
• Wabasso Rehabilitation and Health Care Center is closed to visitors as well, but because of a slightly different reason. It is because of the “large numbers of individuals diagnosed with Influenza A and B, and for the safety of our residents and staff the facility will be closed to visitors,” according to its Facebook page.