(Scott Johnson)
The Minnesota Department of Health held the third of its press briefings this week yesterday afternoon. It focused on long-term care facilities. As I get the message from the assembled bureaucrats, they have made great progress and are doing a wonderful job. LTC deaths have fallen from 80 to 73 percent of all deaths attributed to COVID-19, but they nevertheless represent only 52 percent of August fatalities. Progress is masked because the daily toll has fallen so dramatically (that’s my comment, not the authorities’).
The progress was also masked in yesterday’s data. Among the 15 new deaths attributed to the epidemic, residents of long-term care facilities accounted for 11.
Unsurprisingly, the age of new decedents skewed heavily toward the elderly. Of the 15 new decedents, one was in his 100’s, four in their 90’s, and six in their 80’s. Hospitalizations attributed to the epidemic remain at a low level. MPR’s daily update is posted here.
When the number was last reported, some 98 percent of all those whose deaths are attributed to the epidemic in Minnesota had one or more serious underlying health conditions. Why aren’t the serious underlying health conditions identified and warnings issued at each of the MDH briefings? That’s one question I would like to pose to the authorities.
The Sturgis apocalypse holds steady at 51 cases traced to the thousands of Minnesotans who attended. According to the junk report publicized in the media and hyped by Forum News Service’s Paul Scott on the conference call yesterday, the Sturgis rally was a “superspreader” event. So far, however, the Minnesota data suggest otherwise. Although the nomenclature is meant to terrify, we will struggle manfully to maintain our composure. (The audio recording of yesterday’s briefing begins some two minutes into the video below.)
