Saturday

Jan302021

January 29 Ward 7 Updates from Council Member Lisa Goodman

Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 3:49AM |

Keep Safe While Waiting for Vaccinations

With the welcome news that vaccinations have begun against the coronavirus, we also know the demand for vaccine far outpaces the supply. The entire distribution process will take time.

While we wait throughout this process, public health experts remind us to keep protecting ourselves, our loved ones and our neighbors by doing what works:

Wearing a mask, washing your hands, maintaining social distance, and staying home when you feel sick.
Getting a free COVID-19 test. Testing is encouraged and available to everyone, whether or not you have symptoms. It’s one of the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help prevent exposing your loved ones to the virus. Find dates and locations of free testing events — or how to get a test kit in the mail — on the City website.

Thanks for your patience. We will end this pandemic together.

Federal Government Announces Plans to Increase Vaccine Supply to Minnesota

The Biden administration has announced plans to increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped to states by 16% over current levels for at least the next three weeks. Minnesota is expected to receive nearly 11,000 additional doses each week under the new allocation.

The announcement comes after requests from Gov. Tim Walz and other Midwestern governors for more vaccine to be distributed by the federal government. The Centers for Disease Control had originally allocated fewer than 70,000 doses to Minnesota – not enough to vaccinate priority populations including healthcare workers, long-term care residents, and Minnesotans 65 years of age and older.

Walz announced a goal to have 90% of every dose arriving in the state administered within 72 hours and 100% within one week.

Setting up ways people will get vaccinated

The State is standing up pilot vaccination clinics around Minnesota to test ways of getting more doses to people once more vaccine comes from the federal level. The State is also continuing work with health systems, smaller clinics and community pharmacies to help expand the ways Minnesotans will get vaccinated.

Learn more about the State's vaccine distribution plan.

Minnesota’s COVID-19 Vaccine Pilot Program Laying Groundwork for State Vaccination Clinics

On Jan. 18, the State launched a vaccination pilot program at nine sites across Minnesota. These initial clinics will set the State on a path for a more extensive network of vaccination clinics in Minnesota communities as the federal government increases vaccine supply. Because this is a limited pilot program, vaccine demand is outpacing available doses.

The pilot program is for Minnesotans 65 and older, pre-K-12 educators and staff (who will work directly with their program or school), and child care workers (who will be randomly selected and notified).

Appointments are extremely limited, and no walk-ins will be accepted.

Besides the pilot clinics, Minnesota health care systems are also providing limited vaccine doses to their patients 65 and older. Health care providers are developing systems to let their existing patients know when they can make an appointment for a vaccine. Providers will contact patients with this information; Minnesotans should not contact their health care providers directly right now.

While waiting to be vaccinated you can help stop the spread of the virus by continuing hand-washing, social distancing, wearing a mask, getting a free test and avoiding high-risk situations.

Learn more about State distribution plans for the vaccine.

COVID-19 Variants Found in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Health Public Health Laboratory found the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as the P.1 variant first identified in Brazil in a specimen from a Minnesota resident with recent travel history to Brazil. This case marks the first documented instance of that variant in the United States. Eight people in Minnesota have now been identified with the variant first identified in the United Kingdom.

The new variants appear to spread more easily, but there is no sign yet that they are any different in terms of how sick people can get or how they affect any particular person.

Keep protecting yourself and your loved ones by wearing a mask, staying 6 feet from anyone you don’t live with, avoiding gatherings, washing your hands often, staying home if you feel sick or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, and getting tested.

Find Free COVID-19 Tests; Help Stop the Spread

The City of Minneapolis is offering free COVID-19 saliva tests. Testing is encouraged and available to everyone, whether or not you have symptoms. It’s one of the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help prevent exposing your loved ones to the virus. Do not eat, drink or use tobacco products for 30 minutes before taking a COVID-19 saliva test.

The State of Minnesota especially asks these people to get tested:

Students returning to school, youth sports or extracurricular activities. Testing doesn’t sideline your team but helps identify the virus early so it doesn’t have a chance to spread.
College and trade school students returning to campus or classes.
Anyone who regularly interacts with people outside of their family unit or household.
Anyone with symptoms or who was exposed to someone who tested positive or someone they don’t live with.
Anyone who is working at places that remain open during the pandemic such as critical infrastructure, first responders, health care, retail, schools and child care.

Free COVID-19 tests

Columbia Manor Golf Course, 3300 Central Ave. NE 4-7 p.m. Thursdays, Feb. 4, 11, 18 and 25

Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 2-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 and 20

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe building, 1308 E. Franklin Ave. 3-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16

Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, 1301 10th Ave. N. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27

You can expect to get your test results in about two business days.

More free COVID-19 saliva tests

Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave. S., Exhibit Room E 9 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends Make an appointment here. Find instructions here.

Native American Community Clinic, 1213 E. Franklin Ave. 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays Appointments required: Call 612-872-8086 to schedule an appointment.

Southside Community Health Services, 324 E. 35th St. 2-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays Appointments required: Call 612-821-3548 to schedule an appointment. You can expect to get your test results in about two-three business days. Same day testing can be done for health care workers, first responders and essential workers.

Find a current list of free COVID-19 tests on the City website.

Resources

The COVID-19 test is free, and you do not need insurance for the test. If you need medical care but don’t have health insurance, the Minnesota Department of Health offers resources to find low-cost health care or health insurance.

If you can’t attend one of these testing events, you can use this directory to find a testing location near you. The State is also offering free at-home saliva tests. Any person in Minnesota can order a saliva test kit from the COVID-19 Test at Home program.

Updates on Transforming Community Safety

The City of Minneapolis is committed to a goal of safety for everyone in Minneapolis. On June 12, 2020, the City Council passed a resolution committing to creating a transformative new model for cultivating safety in Minneapolis.

Since then, internal work groups and key stakeholders have been exploring ways to develop an integrated community safety response that works for everyone.

Three pillars of community safety

The City’s realignment to provide a holistic community safety response will take place in phases over time with much staff, partner and community participation. It focuses on three main areas:

A public-health-oriented response for preventing violence.
Alternatives to police response for 911 calls.
Reforming law enforcement policies, protocols and practices.

Some of the work in progress includes:

Minneapolis’ crime prevention specialists (CPS) now report to the Neighborhood & Community Relations Department instead of the Police Department. The change reflects the crime prevention specialists’ roles in community engagement. Nothing will change as far as work location, scope of work, job titles and programs offered to the community without further planning and engagement.
If you have a mental health crisis in Minneapolis, you can continue to call 911 or the Cope mobile crisis team in Hennepin County: 612-596-1223 (for adults in Hennepin County) and 612-348-2233 (for children 17 and under). In 2021, two mental health teams will be available 24/7 for crisis calls. This means police may not provide the primary response for a mental health crisis call or police may still respond if the mental health teams are both on current calls.
To report theft of property damage, you can call 311, 911 or submit an online report. As part of a pilot this year, City employees (non-sworn officers) will take theft and property damage reports from residents.

Stay up to date

Stay updated on this work by visiting the City’s community safety webpage. This source will have updated information on the three focus areas. Information will also be shared out over a variety of channels in many languages.

Staff will present regular community safety updates at City Council meetings. The first is a Health Department presentation on the first phase of engagement around public-health-oriented violence prevention. This presentation will include a summary of the online survey, stakeholder interviews and focus groups you were invited to take part in. Staff from the City Coordinator’s Office will also provide an update on the alternatives to police response work rolling out this year. Watch the Jan. 21 presentation to the Public Health & Safety Committee on the City’s website.

COVID-19 Situation Update as of January 27, 2021

Situational updates: Minneapolis

There are 31,276 cases in Minneapolis and 369 deaths. The total number of cases increased by 1.7% over the previous week. Hospitalizations increased by 1.2% and ICU admissions increased by 1.1%.
Over the past week, there have been about 80 new cases per day on average, the first time the daily number of cases has been below 100 in the past three months. Minneapolis-specific daily case counts and demographics are available at www.minneapolismn.gov/coronavirus/dashboard.
The new case rate in Minneapolis has decreased significantly, however we are still seeing at least 10 new cases per day, as well as, averaging five hospitalizations, one ICU admission, and one death per day. It is important to continue taking precautions and take advantage of the available testing.
The seven-day rolling average rate for Minneapolis is at 17.1 per 100,000. The rate continues to decrease, but the impact of the recent re-opening of bars and restaurants, as well as the return to school and sports, remains to be seen.
Mayor Frey’s Emergency Regulation No. 12 regarding masks remains in effect. The regulation requires people to wear face masks in all indoor public places.

Situational updates: Minnesota

There are 457,317 cases in Minnesota out of over 6.4 million tests completed. There have been 6,124 deaths from COVID-19 in Minnesota. There are 94,872 cases and 1,509 deaths in Hennepin County.
The State uses a color-coded map to track a seven-day rolling average of new cases. As of January 20, Minnesota is reporting 20.9 cases per 100,000 and Minneapolis is at 17.1 cases per 100,000.
The State continues to work with the CDC to conduct strain surveillance to determine how prevalent the newly identified strains of COVID-19 might be in Minnesota.
MHD encourages everyone to sign up for the State’s COVIDaware MN exposure app. The app notifies you if you may have been exposed to COVID-19 by anyone else using the app. The app complements, but does not replace, case investigation and contact tracing.
The statewide mask mandate remains in effect. People are required to wear masks in all indoor public places where people gather and some outdoor venues where physical distancing is difficult.
Governor Walz’s Emergency Order 21-01 is in effect. Details are available on the City’s Guidance for Restaurants, Bars and Breweries and Distilleries web page.

Health Department Incident Command updates

Case investigation/Contact tracing

MHD continues to conduct follow-up on individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as contact tracing at workplaces and with exposed individuals. Of the cases in Minneapolis, 63% have been interviewed and 2.3% have refused. Thirty-three percent of cases have been lost to follow-up and 1.4% of new Minneapolis cases still need to be interviewed.
Twenty percent of interviews of Minneapolis residents have been conducted in a language other than English, representing over 15 different languages.
We have 55 active case investigators, including two non-MHD enterprise staff and 17 AmeriCorps staff. Case investigators are interviewing an average of 90 cases per shift and making an average of 148 calls per shift, plus conducting workplace and other contact follow-up.
Cases now have the option of completing the interview online. Cases receive a text and are able to choose one of four languages to complete the survey in. About 5% of Minneapolis cases have chosen to complete the interview online.

COVID-19 vaccination

MHD continues to vaccinate people in the Phase 1A groups, and is providing 2nd doses for EMS staff. Six vaccination clinics will be held this week for more than 300 individuals. We have given out over 1,200 vaccines to date.
We are also offering vaccines to Blue and White taxi drivers who provide non-emergency medical transport for COVID patients.
We are working with Hennepin County to vaccinate sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons.
On January 18, the State launched a vaccination pilot program at nine sites across Minnesota. The closest site to Minneapolis is Brooklyn Center. Because this is a limited pilot program, vaccine demand is outpacing available doses at this time, and a new lottery system has been put in place to more fairly distribute the vaccine. Minnesotans are encouraged to remain patient as the state waits for more vaccine doses from the federal government. These initial clinics will set the state on a path for a more extensive network of vaccination clinics in Minnesota as the federal government increases vaccine supply.

Minnesotans 65 and older can schedule an appointment at one of these nine pilots sites online at www.mn.gov/vaccine or by phone at 612-426-7230 or 833-431-2053. No walk-ins are accepted. New appointment slots will be made available every Tuesday. If no appointments are available, you may be able to add your name to a waitlist for each site.

Pre-kindergarten through grade 12 educators and school staff will work directly with their program or school to sign up for a vaccine appointment. The State has set up a vaccination clinic for educators and other school staff at the Xcel Energy Center (Roy Wilkins Auditorium) in downtown St. Paul.
Child care workers will be randomly selected and notified to secure an appointment through the state-sponsored pilot sites.
In addition to the pilot clinics, Minnesota health care systems and clinics are providing limited vaccine doses to patients 65 years of age and older. Health care providers are developing systems to let their existing patients know when they can make an appointment for a vaccine. Providers will contact patients with this information – Minnesotans should not contact their health care providers directly right now.
Updated information on Minnesota’s vaccine distribution efforts is available on the State’s Vaccine dashboard.
While waiting to be vaccinated you can help stop the spread of the virus by continuing hand-washing, social distancing, wearing a mask, and avoiding high-risk situations.
We are hosting weekly Vaccine Briefings most Mondays for Enterprise Leaders. Past recordings can be found on the COVID Vaccination Channel.

Community Vaccination Perspectives and Outreach

As a Health Department, we’re committed to providing timely, culturally appropriate, science-based information to help people make informed decisions about COVID-19 vaccination.
Health Department staff participated in the City’s cultural radio shows during the month of January. On each show, we provided updates on COVID-19 vaccination efforts and other important safety messages.
We established agreements with five community organizations to serve as trusted messengers. These groups will help us ensure that critical information is reaching BIPOC communities using the most effective messages and channels.
Recently, we completed a vaccination perspectives survey, with more than 4,600 community members responding. Survey results revealed key values held by community such as the need to acknowledge trauma and for government to be transparent when talking about COVID vaccination. The survey also showed community concerns about the prevalence of vaccine misinformation and inequitable vaccine distribution. These findings are informing our ongoing communications and vaccination plans.

COVID-19 Testing

In the past week, 104 COVID-19 saliva tests were provided at three community based events.

COVID testing in Minneapolis has dropped by about 20% compared to the last quarter of 2020. Despite the vaccine roll-out, it is important to get tested. Please help us promote the following events:

Upcoming free COVID-19 saliva testing events:

Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway, January 27 (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.), January 30 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and February 4 (2 p.m. to 7 p.m.), February 13 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and February 20 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
Hennepin United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland Ave, January 28 (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Columbia Manor, 3300 Central Ave. N.E. on February 4, 11, 18, and 25 (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, 1301 10th Ave N., February 27 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Free saliva testing is also offered at three local sites hosted by the State health department. Visit the State’s COVID-19 testing web page to register and find more information.
Minneapolis Convention Center-9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
Brooklyn Park Starlight Center-9 a.m. to7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport -7 a.m. to 7p.m. seven days a week.
The State is also offering free at-home saliva tests. Any person in Minnesota can order a saliva test kit from the COVID-19 Test at Home program. The test will be delivered to your home with rush shipping.
The City's testing web page offers the latest information on testing sites and guidance about what to do while you wait for COVID-19 test results. Staying away from others while you wait for your results is extremely important, especially if you have any symptoms. The web page has short videos in multiple languages explaining how to quarantine and isolate effectively.

MHD distribution of saliva test kits:

The Health Department is offering free saliva testing kits to community partners, organizations and businesses. After you request saliva testing kits, a staff member will contact you for more information. Virtual training on how to administer the tests is offered upon request.
To date there have been 64 requests from businesses and community partners for 6,989 test kits.

Responding to community needs

We currently have a good inventory of personal protective equipment (masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves) and are able to fulfill community and business requests for supplies. These items, along with free saliva testing kits, may be requested through theCOVID-19 Requests and Inquiries form on the City’s COVID webpage.
We are responding to many questions from community members, employers, and staff emailing our COVID19@minneapolismn.gov account. Most of the requests for information pertain to COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The State health department is also forwarding some vaccination inquiries to us. Please continue using the COVID email for any questions about vaccine distribution or other COVID-related issues.
The Health Department is hosting regular community testing and vaccination clinics, with more to come in the next few months. We need City staff to volunteer at these events. Anyone who is interested can fill out a brief survey. Staff who volunteer will receive training and personal protective equipment.

Businesses

• Health inspectors followed up with seven food safety/sanitation/COVID-19 complaints, two of which were related to non-compliance with the current bar and restaurant COVID-19 restrictions.

• While routine health inspections are temporarily suspended, inspectors have been re-assigned to support COVID-19 contact tracing and case investigation efforts. They also continue to assist with the delivery of COVID-19 saliva test kits to businesses requesting them.

The City specific COVID email address is: COVID19@minneapolismn.gov.

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