Coronavirus Local

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Swift County’s COVID-19 cases have jumped to nine as of Tuesday’s Minnesota Department of Health report. However, to the east Kandiyohi County’s cases continue to rapidly increase hitting 367. To the south, Chippewa County saw its total go from six Sunday to 21 Tuesday.

Minnesota saw it deaths from the coronavirus increase to 614. So far in May, the state has been averaging nearly 24 deaths a day from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The state is averaging 606 new cases a day this month. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the state stand at 12,494 as of Tuesday.

The vast majority of the deaths due to COVID-19 are among the elderly in assistance living or nursing care facilities. As of Tuesday, 501 of the 614 deaths (80%) in the state had been among those living in one of these facilities...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

When the coronavirus started spreading around the country, Swift County’s community fire departments asked Sheriff John Holtz to issue a burning ban.

“Basically, that was to limit any unnecessary calls for the departments to have to respond to,” he told the Swift County Board of Commissioners at their May 4 meeting. “That would limit cross contamination from too many people in a truck.”  That ban has now been lifted, he said.

While the ban has been lifted, fire departments in the Benson area have been called to three fires in the past two weeks. There were two grass fires this past Friday, one south of Swift Falls, and the other just west of Lake John north of Benson. There was a pine woods fire in Langhei Township north of Benson April 27...

May 11, 2020

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Each time the numbers are posted they are almost instantly wrong as new COVID-19 cases are identified and more people die from the deadly coronavirus.

As of Tuesday morning, Minnesota’s Department of Health had confirmed 301 deaths in the state with 4,181 cases identified.

For now, western Minnesota has only seen a handful of cases. Swift County has had just one case of COVID-19 while Pope, Stevens and Grant counties have yet to record a single case. Chippewa County has had two cases. But to our east, Kandiyohi County has seen its number of cases rapidly jump to 64.

A second positive test of COVID-19 in Swift County was confirmed by the Minnesota Department of Health Tuesday morning.

Gov. Tim Walz called a ramp up in COVID-19 testing announced today “one tool in a toolbox that leads us in the right direction.” The new statewide testing strategy aims to test all symptomatic people, isolate confirmed cases, and expand contact tracing tools.

State officials continue working with private partners and business officials to obtain personal protective equipment, increase COVID-19 testing capacity, and keep Minnesotans safe. That work includes monitoring outbreaks at congregate care settings and businesses.  

Minnesotans continue to volunteer, give blood, donate personal protective equipment (PPE) and take care of each other during the COVID-19. State agencies also have a variety of resources available for Minnesotans struggling financially or with feeding their families.  

Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order today extending Minnesota’s peacetime state of emergency another 30 days until May 13.

Increasing surge capacity at Minnesota hospitals, accumulating more personal protective equipment (PPE) and establishing alternate care sites remain the top priorities for officials working in the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC).  

“We’ve depleted our chalk supply quickly during this shutdown.  We found some cool ways to use painters tape to make fun chalk art as well.” -- Kelly Michaelson, of Benson.  The words inside the colorful box say ‘In a world where you can be anything.  Be Kind!’.