Health Officials Concerned That Protests are an Obstacle to Their Efforts to contain the Spread of COVID-19.

Marie: From Minnesota Native News… this is a COVID-19 Daily Update.

Health Officials Concerned That Protests are an Obstacle to Their Efforts to contain the Spread of COVID-19.

Health Officials are concerned that the protests… and the police response to them… are a threat to their efforts to track and contain the spread of COVID-19.

And while health officials say it’s unclear whether mass gatherings, like the ones we are seeing in our state and across the country… will trigger new outbreaks of the virus… they say they do pose challenges when it comes to tracking down and alerting people who might have been exposed. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had this to say

((Jan Malcolm SOUND TBD))

MARIE: “Contact tracing” is a tool the health officials use to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

When a new person tests positive, health workers interview them, in order to find out who else they been in close contact with… then they will reach out to those people, in order to warn them of possible exposure.

State and tribal health officials say this “contract tracing” is key to stopping the virus from spreading further into our communities.

People who have symptoms of COVID-19 should get tested.

Symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, Fever, Sore throat, Muscle pain, and sometimes loss of taste or smell. If you have those symptoms… talk to your health care provider.

In general, people who do NOT have symptoms do not need to be tested for COVID-19. However, in some situations… like when there is a hotspot or outbreak occurring… health officials may ask people who don’t have symptoms, to go ahead and get tested.

For MN Native News…. I’m Marie Rock.
For more information go online to M-N Native news DOT O-R-G

Stay safe everyone!

Marie: This MN Native News COVID-19 Daily Update is supported by the MN Dept. of Health.