clay county commissioners
Karen Midgarden
The rising numbers of Covid-19 Delta variant numbers led to Clay County Public Health staff appearing before the county commissioners at their August 17 meeting for an update. Clay County Public Health (CCPH) Environmental Health Specialist Becky Schmidt, CCPH Public Health Administrator Kathy McKay and CCPH Director of Nursing Jamie Hennen presented the latest research-based information available to them about the spread of the Covid Delta variant.
McKay reminded the group that, as in the original pandemic, Clay County numbers don’t reflect Minnesota citizens tested and/or treated in North Dakota.
Jamie Hennen warned, “Our local hospitals are seeing an increase in cases. Admissions are steadily increasing.” She added, “CCPH continues to provide vaccine opportunities and has been responding to requests from the universities, the K-12 schools and businesses as they have come up…just to let you know that we are out there.” There will be a vaccine clinic on Thursday, August 19, from 2-6 PM at the Family Service Center. The Moorhead Saliva Testing site remains open through the end of the year.
Schmidt, who founded the case investigation and contact tracing team for CC, cautioned that the Delta variant is more contagious than previous strains. Currently 95% of Minnesota cases are the Delta variant which makes infected individuals able to transmit the disease to more than twice the number of contacts as the original Covid-19 strain. Delta negatively impacts young children more than the original strain. Contact tracing and case investigation continues in Clay County.
Kathy McKay elaborated, “Infectious disease doctors across America are saying they were touting the 70% herd immunity. Now with the Delta variant they are saying that we need to ramp that up. There needs to be a higher level of herd immunity to keep people safe. We really, really encourage unvaccinated people to get vaccinated. It will help with the herd immunity.” She added that the American Academy of Pediatricians is encouraging scientists to work on a vaccine for children younger than age 12. She reported that the doctors want to have a vaccine for younger children available as rapidly as possible, within the boundaries of safe research and implementation guidelines.
Commissioner Jenna Kahly asked, “What are we seeing for symptoms in kids who are diagnosed with Delta?” CCPH staff replied that the symptoms appear to resemble cold symptoms including headache, sore throat, fever and feeling lethargic. Asked about consulting a doctor about children showing symptoms, Schmidt stated, “When in doubt, bring them in.”
Commissioners inquired about breakthrough cases. Environmental Health Specialist Schmidt defined a breakthrough case as a Covid infection in a person that has been fully vaccinated for 14 or more days. The number of cases in this category remains very low. Schmidt said, “It has really become an epidemic of the unvaccinated.”
· Breakthrough cases in Minnesota=0.24%
· Breakthrough hospitalizations = 0.02%
· Breakthrough deaths= 0.002%
Commissioner David Ebinger concluded, “The main message is that if you haven’t gotten your vaccine yet, this is the time to do it.” Acknowledging the gravity of the current public health crisis, commissioners requested that the public health staff keep them apprised of local conditions so that the commission can provide support as needed.
Clay County Active Cases
7/6/21: 11
8/16/21: 78
Minnesota Active Cases
7/6/21: 816
8/16/21: 9044
95% of MN cases are the Delta variant
Cass County North Dakota Active Cases
7/6/21: 15
8/16/21: 243
North Dakota Active Cases
7/6/21: 129
8/16/21: 989
Clay County Cases by Age
(Data cited doesn’t include all 16 age groups. For complete data: https://claycountymn.gov/462/Public-Health )
25-29: 11
30-34: 10
10-14: 9
15-19: 9
5-9: 4
0-4: 3
CCPH Vaccine Information
-CCPH: Total doses administered year to date: 15,066
Minnesota Vaccine Information as of 8/12/21
-3,238,385/68.9% people with at least one vaccine dose
-3,039,678/64.6% people with completed vaccine series
*Health services provided to MN residents in North Dakota are not reported.
*MDH, CDC, local healthcare systems and CCPH all recommend wearing masks in indoor public settings in areas with substantial and high transmission rates.
*To date, Clay County is in the substantial transmission rate. A week ago, Clay County was in the moderate range.
*To date, Cass County ND and Ottertail MN are at the high transmission rate.
The public is urged to:
-socially distance
-mask according to local guidelines
-get tested if experiencing symptoms or were in contact with an infected individual, whether vaccinated or not.