THANK YOU FOR SPENDING PART
OF YOUR DAY WITH US THIS
MORNING.
WE ARE GETTING A LOT OF NUMBERS
THROWN WITH US RIGHT NOW DURING
THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK .
WE SEE BOLD STATEMENTS
CONSIDERING THE NUMBER OF
CONFIRMED CASES, 262, SO WE
WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THE NUMBERS
TELL US AND WHAT THEY DON'T
TELL US, CAN YOU START HEATHER,
BY EXPLAINING WHEN WE HAVE THIS
NUMBER OF CONFIRMED CASES, DOES
THAT INCLUDE LIKE A CASE THAT
WAS DIAGNOSED OVER THE PHONE?
ARE THESE ONLY CONFIRMED
LABORATORY TESTED CASES?
IT IS A CONFIRMED LABORATORY
CASE THAT HAS BEEN TESTED IN
THE PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
AND THE HELP OF THE SHOW, THE
STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS WILL
TELL YOU THAT THAT NUMBER IS
NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL HOW
MANY CASES ARE ACTUALLY HERE IN
MINNESOTA.
THEY SAY, YOU SHOULD ASSUME THAT
COVID-19 IS IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
YES, HOW DO THEY KNOW THAT
AND HAVE CAN THEY MAKE THAT
STATEMENT?
EXACTLY, THAT IS WHAT I WAS
WONDERING HOW MANY CASES DO
THEY THINK WE REALLY HAVE?
WE ALREADY KNOW THAT THERE ARE
PEOPLE WHO ARE GETTING COVID-19
AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY
GOT THE VIRUS.
WE KNOW IT IS IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO KNOW THERE HAS BEEN A
JUMP IN HOSPITALS OF PEOPLE
COMING IN WITH FLULIKE SYMPTOMS
BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEY
HAVEN'T SEEN A JUMP IN FLU
CASES SO YOU HAVE TO ASSUME IT
IS COVID-19.
ALSO LOOK AT DATA FROM OTHER
PLACES SUCH AS CHINA.
WHEN THEY HAD DIFFERENT TESTING
IN THE EARLY DAYS, THE ACTUAL
AMOUNT OF TESTING WAS 10 TIMES
HIGHER, GIVEN WE HAVE SUCH
LIMITED TESTING, THE DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH TELLS ME IT COULD BE
ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 100 TIMES.
IF YOU ARE ON THE HIGHER END,
YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT 26,000
PEOPLE IN MINNESOTA THAT MIGHT
HAVE COVID-19, THEY EXPECT IT
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THE 2600
AND 26,000.
INTERESTING.
THEY DO TRY TO BOTTLE THIS OUT,
AND TO A LOT OF US IT IS SO
FRUSTRATING TO NOT HAVE ENOUGH
TESTING.
YOU THINK THIS HAS BEEN GOING
ON AROUND THE WORLD, IF WE HAD
AN IDEA AS TO WHERE THIS WAS
GROWING, IF WE COULD ISOLATE
PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK, IT SEEMS
LIKE TESTING WOULD REALLY HELP
US OUT A LOT, HERE.
YOU ARE PREACHING TO THE
CHOIR AND YOU CAN HEAR
FRUSTRATION FROM HEALTH
OFFICIALS ABOUT THIS AS WELL.
TESTING WOULD MAKE A HUGE
DIFFERENCE, HERE.
HOW ARE THEY MODELING THIS
OUT WITHOUT DATA?
IT IS FASCINATING, THEY ARE
TAKING A LOOK AT WHAT IS
HAPPENING IN OTHER PLACES.
THERE ARE EXPERTS HELPING THEM
WORK ON THIS AND WHAT THE
GOVERNOR HAS ASKED HIM TO COME
UP WITH IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE
STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IS
WHEN WE WILL SEE OUR PEAK HERE
AND MINNESOTA, AND WHAT HE
REALLY WANTS TO KNOW, THIS IS
THE KEY, WHEN WILL WE SEE THE
PEAK IN ICU AND CAPACITY?
THEY DO ANTICIPATE THAT THESE
NUMBERS WILL COME OUT, THEY
HAVE BEEN WORKING NONSTOP DOING
THIS, THE NUMBERS MAY COME OUT
TOMORROW OR OVER THE WEEKEND.
WHEN WE GET THAT INFORMATION IT
WILL GIVE US A LOT MORE
GUIDANCE ON WHAT TO ANTICIPATE
OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.
THE REALITY IS THERE ARE
ONLY ABOUT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
1100 AND 1200 ICU BEDS, PERIOD.
MOST OF THOSE ARE IN USE AND
THE GOVERNOR SAID YESTERDAY
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED
OPEN BEDS RIGHT NOW.
SO IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG TO FILL
THOSE OUT.
IT DOESN'T, IF YOU HAVE A
BIT OF A TIMELINE YOU MAY BE
ABLE TO ADD ICU BEDS.
HAS BEEN GOOD ABOUT MINNESOTA'S
CASES IS WE ARE ABOUT 8 DAYS
BEHIND.
THIS IS HELPFUL BECAUSE WE CAN
SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NEW
YORK AND USE INFORMATION AND
DATA TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS HERE.
WE ALSO GOT AHEAD OF IT CLOSING
BARS AND RESTAURANTS ACCORDING
TO THE GOVERNOR.
YOU COULD TELL THE THINGS WE
ARE DOING, HE SAYS ARE ALREADY
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN
ANTICIPATING CHANGES.