Staying Vigilant in the Fight Against COVID-19

Daily Update Script For Tuesday, June 30th:

(Music 5-8 seconds)

INTRO (pre-recorded)

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

MARIE: I’m Marie Rock.

MARIE:

The United States set a new record on June 24th for the highest number of new COVID cases: 45-thousand Americans were diagnosed on this day, which is the highest number of new cases on a single day, in the US since the pandemic began.

Here’s Epidemiologist Mike Osterholm on Almanac, the Twin Cities PBS TV show:

((Michael Osterholm: are still at the very beginning of this pandemic. ))

Dr. Mike Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the U of M.

((Michael Osterholm: WE know that this virus is going to keep marching, infecting humans, at a speed that is substantial, until we get to 60 percent of the population.)).

Osterholm is urging people to stay vigilant and be ready for what is to come.

((Michael Osterholm: This is just what we are going to see for months and months, its going to come and its going to go, we have got to understand that. ))

And while most young people infected with COVID might not get very sick, they pose a serious threat others… especially older people or those with underlying health conditions like obesity… which puts people at greater risk to be hit hard by the disease.

((Michael Osterholm: TC 3:59 We’re going to have to learn how to live with that because I worry that a lot of these young people that are now infected do not realize that they are major sources of the virus for their parents, their grand-parents, older individuals, people with underlying health problems, and we are going to see another wave, in a sense, of severe illness in older people, as a result of contact with younger people.

MARIE:
We still have a long ways to go to fight COVID19 and Mike Osterholm has this advice:

((Michael Osterholm: So, Go ahead and wear your mask, but the most important thing is the three key words in all of this issue of prevention: Distance, Distance, and Distance. That’s the one thing you have control over and the one thing that can save you.TC: 7:13 runs=15)

For MN Native News…. I’m Marie Rock.

For more information go online to M-N Native news DOT O-R-G

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