To the Editor,
As we wait for Governor Walz to start the next wave of restrictions, a thought occurs to me. We as Minnesotans have done everything he has asked, including lockdowns and mask wearing. But the COVID numbers keep going up. After listening to his press conference a few weeks ago, l feel that he is ignoring the elephant in the room. He said that we were doing good until the end of may or early June. George Floyd died on May 25. The governor then allowed protesters, mostly not wearing masks, to roam the streets for 10 days. Doesn’t he think that may have caused the rise in COVID cases? He never mentions it. I may be just a dumb country boy, but even I can figure that out. I may be wrong, just looking for one answer in the millions of questions we all have about this virus. If anyone can logically prove me wrong, without political bias, I welcome it.
Mike Mitchell
Spring Valley, Minn.
Bob says
So how much of this 908 billion is going to states and cities and what stattes and cities ?
David R Webb MD says
Since you asked, here’s a stab at a few answers, which I’ll preface with what I frequently used to tell my students, “The only dumb question is the one not asked.”
With all the misinformation, political posturing, and outright lies that have been bandied about, it’s hardly surprising that many folks don’t know what to believe. In my opinion, there are three basic facts everyone ought to believe. 1. COVID-19 is not a hoax. 2. It can kill you. 3. In this country, it is not even close to being “under control.” Sadly, for example as was reported from the Dakotas last week, some folks have been so brainwashed that even on their deathbeds they continue to deny reality, and in their final moments instead of reaching out to loved ones, abuse their care givers for trying to treat them for a “nonexistent” illness.
The other fact which would seem self-evident but which has nonetheless been all too often ignored is that you won’t contract or succumb to the virus if you don’t come in contact with it. Hence, the importance of mask wearing, social distancing, etc. until the virus has been contained.
You are absolutely correct that mass gatherings, such as the protests following George Floyd’s murder this summer, pose a risk of spreading the virus. Was Gov. Walz remiss in allowing them to proceed poorly regulated? Absolutely; he caved to political pressure. Did the risk translate into an actual uptick? One needs to look at data from two weeks later (the incubation period for this infection). For whatever reasons – warmer weather, less tightly packed crowds, more mask wearing, dumb luck – the protests did not turn out to be a super-spreader event. We dodged a bullet that time (pun intended.)
How about another mass gathering in the fall, the Trump rally in Duluth, at which the President and many of his entourage were infectious, the crowd was loud and tightly packed, and almost no one was wearing a mask. A potential risk? Of course. Was Gov. Walz remiss in allowing it to proceed? Absolutely; he again caved to political pressure. Did the risk translate into an actual problem? Yes, two weeks later there was a sharp uptick in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Duluth. It did indeed turn out to be a super spreader event.
“We as Minnesotans have done everything he [Walz] has asked.” There I have to disagree. If you and your family have, thank you. But to the extent that I’ve had to be out and about in Fillmore and Olmsted Counties, it’s been clear to me that compliance has been at best spotty. At least, there haven’t been unmasked, Confederate and Nazi flag waving, assault weapon carrying thugs storming the capitol in St Paul as had happened in Michigan.
Unfortunately, we cannot hope to bring the pandemic under control until there is a consistent national policy to which everyone tries to adhere. We in Minnesota are surrounded by states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas, in which mask wearing, social distancing, and other recommended mitigation measures have been widely flouted and in some cases actively discouraged by their state governments, and which now have the highest per capita cases and deaths of anywhere in the world. Because more Minnesotans are trying, we’re not as bad off here, but the virus doesn’t know it should stop at state lines. Close to home, Mayo Rochester and Gundersen La Crosse are being stressed. Let us keep insisting that everyone continue to do his part.