(Scott Johnson)
Governor Walz held a press briefing in place of the regularly scheduled Department of Health briefing yesterday. I have posted the video below. Walz declares yet again that “George Floyd was murdered in front of the world.” Whereas he previously referred to the Guardsmen he belatedly called up to take back Minneapolis and St. Paul from the mobs as 19-year-old cooks, he now describes them as “the greatest warriors in the world.” The era of one-man rule by Walz was extended for another 30 days yesterday, but what we have here is a crisis of leadership.
It should be difficult to justify the continued exercise of dictatorial powers under current circumstances. The authorities attributed 12 new deaths to COVID-19 in the data released yesterday. Nine of the 12 decedents were residents of long-term care facilities. Yesterday’s numbers were representative: 8 of the 12 new decedents were LTC residents, exactly matching the proportion of LTC residents among all decedents to date (1,260 of 1,678).
As always, the age of decedents skewed toward the elderly. Eight of the 12 new decedents were in their 80’s and 90’s. The youngest was in his 50’s. Hospitalizations continue at a low level. Nevertheless, the waning of the epidemic’s severity isn’t the impression one is meant to take away from daily reports such as the one by MPR News here.
Below is the video of Governor Walz’s press briefing. “Light skinned Native woman” (as she calls herself) Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan makes cameo appearances at 5:30 and 27:00. Walz evaluates his performance during the riots at around 22:00. By his account, he performed capably under difficult circumstances.
