Minnesota health officials blame private gatherings, not public spaces for COVID-19 spread
Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. (Scott Takushi, pool / MediaNews Group / St. Paul Pioneer Press via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - One day after a White House health official sounded the alarm about the Twin Cities area’s COVID-19 situation, state health officials blamed private get-togethers for the lack of a decline in cases.
Dr. Deborah Birx, of the White House, visited Minnesota Sunday evening and met with Gov. Tim Walz and state health officials. As part of her visit, Birx noted that the Twin Cities, unlike other metropolitan areas in the country, have not seen decreases in case numbers or community spread. She emphasized that rural Minnesota isn't taking the virus threat seriously enough either.
Monday, Minnesota Health Department Commissioner Jan Malcolm called the conversation “sobering” and pointed to personal and private get-togethers as one of the main culprits for the continued spread of the virus.
“There isn’t a different set of rules for personal or private gatherings,” Malcolm said.
According to state infectious disease expert Kris Ehresmann, 13 new outbreaks have been traced back to personal gatherings or parties. She said COVID-19 spread in Minnesota is not coming from grocery stores, gas stations and retailers where mask usage is enforced.
Malcolm said she believes the state’s mask mandate initially helped slow the spread, but that the mandate is “not being adhered to as well in some of our private gatherings.”
She warned that if Minnesotans fail to take these risks more seriously that an outbreak like those seen in Florida and Arizona a few weeks ago could be around the corner for Minnesota.
“The disease doesn’t particularly care what our individual beliefs or behaviors are,” she said. “It doesn’t care if we had plans this weekend or if we are tired of social distancing or our political philosophies or how we feel about government in general.”
With Labor Day weekend upcoming, Malcolm stressed the importance of limiting social gatherings, social distancing and mask use.
“We cannot afford to have this Labor Day weekend further accelerate the community spread,” she said. “If that happens, what comes next is going to be worse.”