Karen Newman

Clay County Public Health Director Kathy McKay reports that to date, Clay County data shows a total of 830 positive cases with 760/830 out of isolation.  County data indicates 30 active cases.  Deaths due to the pandemic remain at 40.  The Minnesota Department of Public Health statewide report shows a total of 72,898 cases with 1771 deaths.

McKay emphasizes the importance of the 14-day COVID Case Rate/10,000 People number for county schools which use it to determine whether they can be open for in-person instruction.  If safety planning and curriculum requirements are met and the 14-day COVID Case Rate/10,000 People number is below 10, the schools may be open. The current Clay County rate is 8.6 cases/10,000 people, down from the previous week.

McKay notes that the Minnesota Department of Public Health added additional case investigators and contact tracers to existing local staff.  She reports, “We had a bit of a glitch.  There were a number of cases that had a wrong phone number so we couldn’t follow-up. We worked with the health care system so hopefully that glitch is figured out now.  We haven’t had any issues contacting people for follow-up now.”

Commissioner Kevin Campbell questions why weekly reports of previous active case numbers appear to change for no reason. McKay explains, “They (Minnesota Health Department) are going back and correcting the data.  There are always delays in getting that data.”

Campbell notes that he shares information from the public health reports on social media so his constituents see the information he receives which is confusing when numbers change.  McKay replied, “It is as accurate as we can get to date but we need to remember that it is always preliminary data.  It is the best data the public health department has to date but it will change.” McKay also informed the board of the presence of a disclaimer on the Minnesota Department of Health and the Clay County Department of Public Health information releases that says the information provided is based on current data provided.

Clay County Nursing Director Jamie Hennen reports that the Lakes Country Service Cooperative in Fergus Falls has been designated as the regional coordinator for COVID support teams for regional K-12 schools.  McKay and Hennen will serve on the team with representatives from the Minnesota Departments of Health and Education and representatives of area cities.  Hennen says, “That team is there to support schools as they have positive cases and if they transition from one education plan to the next.”