WWTBAM Bored

One driver of new cases over the past week has been young adults. People in their 20s now make up the largest age group of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnesota. That news comes after clusters of cases were tied to bars in Mankato and Minneapolis, suggesting that some younger adults aren’t doing enough to prevent the virus’ spread as they move back into public spaces. Minnesota’s early sacrifices to limit COVID-19’s spread “will be undermined if we don’t get cooperation from all Minnesotans, especially younger Minnesotans, who are most active and social,” Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director, told reporters Friday. “We desperately need younger Minnesotans to take it seriously,” she added.

More than 100 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Minnesotans in their 20s in the Mankato area who said they went to bars on June 12 and 13 — the first weekend bars and restaurants were allowed to serve indoors. Two Mankato bars — Rounders and The 507 — were the focal points of that young adult outbreak, Ehresmann said Friday. Officials were also following up on a cluster of 30 cases at two Minneapolis bars — Cowboy Jack’s and Kollege Klub. Social media from those bars shows they were crowded, with no room for social distancing, and people who were standing and not masked, so not following the state guidance, Ehresmann said.

Many of the outbreaks outside the Twin Cities metro area are focused around meatpacking plants. Officials have intensified testing in those hot spots, uncovering more infections. That includes Mower County in southeastern Minnesota, where there were 868 confirmed cases as of Friday. Mower County is home to Hormel Foods and Quality Pork Processors. Both have been partnering with Mayo Clinic to ramp up employee testing.

mrkelley23 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:50 pm

Gee, who might have thought it might be more complicated than just "those damn protesters?"

Bob Juch wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:59 pm

mrkelley23 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:50 pm

Gee, who might have thought it might be more complicated than just "those damn protesters?"

It's mostly "those damn kids" crowding into bars.