Minnesota officials will reopen four free coronavirus testing locations this week, as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus continues to increase demand.
These locations will be reopened in St. Paul, Bloomington and Brooklyn Park. They will also augment existing sites at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. St. Cloud and Mankato will resume testing this week.
As the number of virus cases continues to rise across the state, hospitals are nearing full capacity. This means that both ICU beds and all hospital beds are more than 90% occupied.
Officials from St. Louis County and health workers stated Tuesday that COVID-19 is causing an increase in hospitalizations and deaths in the region. The majority of these are in people who have not been vaccinated.
Andrea Boehland is an Essentia Health emergency department doctor. She said that the strain on capacity coincides with a time when patients are seeking treatment for unrelated illnesses. Additional challenges are created by staffing shortages due to exhaustion, and difficulties finding travel healthcare workers who were able to help during earlier pandemic surges.
Healthcare workers cited vaccination and masking in public settings among the best ways to reduce transmission and strain on healthcare systems.
SIOUX FALLS (S.D. South Dakota Governor. Kristi Noem activated nine soldiers of the state National Guard in response to an increase in infections.
The average number of infected people has increased by threefold over the past two weeks. Johns Hopkins University researchers estimate that 1 in 570 South Dakotans have tested positive for the virus in the last week. The virus has been most severe in the western region of the state. Meade County hosted the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier in the month. It is the most affected county in the state for new cases per head.
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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little has called in 220 federally-funded medical personnel and mobilized 150 Idaho National Guard soldiers in response to a flood of COVID-19 patients that are overtaking state hospitals.
The Republican governor stated Tuesday that the actions were a last-ditch effort not to activate for the first time statewide emergency standards of care. This could force medical professionals into making decisions about who lives or dies.
In the last week, there have been approximately 1,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed each day. Most of these were unvaccinated. According to Little, there were only four beds in an ICU across the state on Tuesday.
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LANSING (Mich.) — A federal judge stopped Western Michigan University’s imposition of a COVID-19 vaccination requirement on four female soccer players. He ruled that they will prevail over claims that it violates their constitutional religious freedoms.
The temporary restraining orders were issued by Paul Maloney, Grand Rapids District Judge. This was on the same day that the school had set the deadline for athletes to receive their first shot. While the university did not have the opportunity to respond to the lawsuit he said that WMU’s requirement for vaccinations for student athletes was not justified by compelling interest and was not narrowly tailored.
He set a Sept. 9 hearing for a temporary injunction.
Western does not require students or employees to be vaccinated, unlike other Michigan universities. However, those who aren’t vaccinated must still undergo coronavirus testing every week. Four athletes claimed they were denied religious exemptions from being able to participate in the games without receiving a dose.
Kalamazoo-based school denies commenting on ongoing litigation.
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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox cast doubts on Tuesday’s efficacy for mask-wearing as health leaders made passionate pleas for residents to get vaccinated.
Republican Cox said that his administration encourages people to wear masks, but it’s not clear if they are effective against highly contagious coronavirus delta variant.
Cox stated that “Masks don’t work as well as the pro-mask crowd argues,” during a news conference. “We know they are just not.”
Cox’s remarks contradicted statements made at the news conference by Dr. Michelle Hofmann, state epidemiologist, and state hospital leaders. They made emotional pleas for universal masking and vaccinations to stop the state’s continuing COVID-19 surge.
Hofmann stated that there will be lasting harm to our children and future generations if we don’t stop divisiveness surrounding the things we know work, like vaccines and masks. “We know that the only way to heal is to end this pandemic. Even if we pretend it has, it hasn’t.”
He has previously encouraged state residents to wear masks, and defended his administration’s decision last year to require masks in schools against parent protests.
A new state law prohibits school masks for the current school year. However, students may choose to cover their faces if their parents or they so desire.
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HELENA (Mont. — Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Montana Governor, announced Tuesday that a rule was in place encouraging schools to allow parents final decision on whether students should wear masks in school. This follows several large districts across the state having implemented mask requirements for all students.
Gianforte is a Republican and made the announcement following U.S. Department of Education opening civil rights investigations into five Republican-led States that had banned or restricted mask requirements in schools. The investigation found that the policies could be discriminatory against students with disabilities.
Gianforte stated in a statement that masking schools is based on “inconclusive” research. He also warned of potential adverse effects on children’s health, well-being, and development.
In light of rapid spread of COVID-19, the CDC issued guidance.
Schools should take into account “parental concerns” when considering mask mandates. Parents should be able to opt out of health-related mandates for many reasons, including developmental and physical needs and religious beliefs.
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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little has called in 220 federally-funded medical personnel and mobilized 150 Idaho National Guard soldiers in response to an influx of COVID-19 patients who have overwhelmed the state’s hospitals.
According to the Republican governor, the move is a last-ditch effort not to activate for the first time statewide emergency standards of care. This could force medical professionals into making decisions about who lives or dies.
In the last week, there were approximately 1,000 new cases confirmed each day. Most of these cases were unvaccinated. According to Little, there were only four beds in an ICU across the state on Tuesday.
A U.S. Department of Defense medical team of 20 personnel has been deployed to northern Idaho. This is where the vaccination rate is among the lowest in the country.
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JACKSON (Miss.) Roger Wicker, a Republican Senator from Mississippi, says he is fully recovered from COVID-19.
Wicker, 70 years old, said he was looking forward to visiting Mississippi this week. Wicker was one of three senators to announce that they were positive for coronavirus on August 19. Other senators were Angus King, a 77-year old independent from Maine, and John Hickenlooper, a 69-year-old Democrat from Colorado. All three were vaccinated.
Hickenlooper stated Friday that he was suffering from a mild case. King said Tuesday that he is now well, even though he wasn’t feeling great during the worst part of his illness.
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HONOLULU — Hawaii’s health care officials are worried about the lack of oxygen due to the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, hospital officials have decided to cancel all non-emergency procedures that are not urgent in order to preserve oxygen supplies. Hilton Raethel is the president and CEO of Healthcare Association of Hawaii. He says that there is a shortage of oxygen containers worldwide for transporting to the islands.
Two liquid oxygen plants in Hawaii have been converted to making medical gas. Raethel claims that mainland tank orders have been backloged for several months. Hawaii Pacific Health, which oversees many hospitals in the state has directed staff to cancel elective procedures requiring oxygen.
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HARRISBURG (Pa.) — Governor. Tom Wolf announced that masks would be required in all Pennsylvania K-12 schools beginning Sept. 7.
The masking order applies to both public and private schools, as well as child care facilities.
Two statewide teacher’s unions in Pennsylvania had asked K-12 schools for masks, citing the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Masks are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for teachers, students, and staff.
Wolf is taking steps amid a state-wide resurgence in coronavirus, which’s filling hospitals just as students return from class.
Pennsylvania has more than 3200 daily confirmed infections per day, 20 times the rate in July. Over 1,700 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 since last month, seven times more than the previous month. Two weeks ago, death rates doubled to 20 per day.
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OMAHA (Neb. Over the past two weeks, Nebraska has seen nearly double the number of coronavirus infections due to the highly contagious delta variant.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nebraska had 5,006 new cases for Friday’s week-end. This is nearly twice the number of cases that were recorded in the previous week, which was 3,755, and almost double the 2,668 cases.
In the last two weeks, the average daily number of new cases in Nebraska for seven days has increased from 190 cases per day on August 15 to 715 cases on Sunday.
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INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Governor has extended the state’s COVID-19 public emergency until September.
Republican Governor. Eric Holcomb is currently in talks with health care professionals about a new state executive order in response to the state’s increase in coronavirus cases.
He signed the 18th extension to the public health emergency that he issued in March 2020. According to health officials, 97% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state are not vaccinated.
Nearly 52% of Indiana residents are currently vaccinated. In Indiana, hospitalizations have increased by more than 50% in the last month. Schools have also reported record numbers of infections.
After talks with “healthcare stakeholders” to assess pertinent information, the governor’s office announced Wednesday that a new September order would be issued.
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DENVER — Colorado’s health care workers, including those in assisted living and nursing homes, must be vaccinated against COVID-19 before October 31st under a temporary state emergency rule approved by the state board.
After Gov. The Denver Post reported that Jared Polis asked the board to consider a mandate for vaccines. It is applicable to staff and contract workers working with clients or patients at approximately 3,800 licensed facilities that are regulated by the board. It does not apply to urgent care centers or doctors’ offices.
Many people at the hearing suggested that workers would rather quit than get vaccinated. This could lead to a worsening of staff shortages. Employers can grant religious or medical exemptions to workers.
Facilities may request waivers from the state to allow less then 100% of their employees to be vaccinated, but they must also present a plan to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
