Dear Neighbor,
Here are a some more notes I would like to pass along regarding COVID-19 issues, starting with some encouraging developments on a couple of fronts.
First, it was good to see the governor announce today that industrial, manufacturing, and office-based businesses will be able to reopen effective this coming Monday, as long as they adhere to some safety guidelines, including plans to keep employees safe, conduct daily health screenings of employees upon their arrival, and continue teleworking whenever possible. Between 80,000-100,000 Minnesotans will be able to get back to work through this move, one step toward re-opening our economy. This link has more info on the guidelines, along with details on what businesses are allowed to return to work, so please check that out if you have questions.
While this news is encouraging for thousands of businesses who have been waiting to safely reopen they doors, I know many are still frustrated and uncertain about the days and weeks ahead, and wondering when they will be able to do the same. My hope is that today's announcement is a path forward so we can get our economy moving again and help Minnesotans return to work safely. We will continue working with the Walz administration to help reopen as many businesses as possible, and do it in a way that protects the health and safety of employees and our communities.
Today's news followed an announcement from the governor yesterday regarding a collaboration to significantly increase testing for the virus. A new partnership between Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota, funded by the COVID-19 Minnesota fund, will establish capacity to deliver 20,000 molecular and 15,000 serology tests per day. This will allow testing of all symptomatic people, and in turn we can isolate and trace contacts for positive cases.
The partnership will help collect data to identify hotspots, conduct further research into how best to treat and prevent COVID-19. The governor did not indicate an exact date when we can expect to see that capacity reached, but suggested we should start to see an increase shortly.
This breakthrough could be a big help in helping our state re-open in a safe, effective manner so we can continue to protect people as workers get back on the job. Please understand this is a major logistical undertaking so, while this is good news, it still will require some time for us to get our system up to speed to handle this volume so we can incrementally re-open Minnesota.
I also want to mention that farmers are looking for information to help navigate the COVID-19 outbreak are encouraged to check out a website the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has put together as a resource. It has numerous different topics and contacts for department staff. The site covers issues from questions about meat processing to mental health resources to financial support through RFA.
Stay tuned for more soon. Another House session is scheduled for April 28, so there may be more to report regarding bills that come to the House floor for votes of the full body.
Sincerely,
Paul