(C) Minnesota Reformer
This unaltered story was originally published on MinnesotaReformer.com [1]
Licensed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 [2]
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Minnesota Nice politics is hurting all of us
By: ['More From Author', 'October', 'Hannah Lichtsinn'], Minnesota Reformer
Date: 2021-10-28 00:00:00
Until the fall of 2021, Minnesota’s approach to COVID policy prevented the crushing waves of illness and death seen in other parts of the United States.
More recently, however, by prioritizing political compromise, our state’s leadership has led us down a dangerous path.
Although we are seeing encouraging data this week, Minnesota is still in the midst of a surge of COVID cases and hospitalizations, pushing the health care system near its breaking point. Currently, major hospitals in the Twin Cities and Rochester are operating at capacity and largely closed to transfers, leaving smaller community hospitals in lower vaccinated regions to fend for themselves, and resulting in delayed care and death.
For the first time in the pandemic, children became more likely than adults to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and by earlier this month had filled nearly every pediatric ICU bed available in the state.
The COVID surge among Minnesotan children was largely preventable and results from a lack of political will.
A stalemate at the Capitol has led to a leadership vacuum and uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 among Minnesota K-12 students.
Like many sane governors early in the pandemic, Gov. Tim Walz used his peacetime emergency powers to enact sweeping safety measures, including school safety regulations. The Republican-led Senate consistently decried the governor’s use of emergency powers. In an act of either hopeful magnanimity to the GOP opposition or political cowardice, Walz ended the peacetime emergency on July 1, 2021. At that point, COVID numbers had declined, and so the decision seemed insignificant, especially to those who didn’t understand how unpredictable this virus is.
In the absence of the peacetime emergency or action by the Legislature, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has no authority to enforce any statewide public health guidelines, even in schools, even with rising case numbers.
As is the case nationally, public health has become politicized in Minnesota.
It came as little surprise that instead of creating a plan for student safety, the Republican leaders of the Senate have instead opposed mask and vaccine mandates.
As a result, we were left without a statewide policy on COVID safety in schools, and the virus spread, especially among children.
Now, each of the state’s 336 school districts creates its own rules, which range from following MDH recommendations on masking, testing, quarantine and teacher vaccination, to none of the above.
Given the politicization of public health, the school districts that are least likely to follow MDH guidelines are in areas with the lowest vaccination rates, further fueling infectious spread. This is why the only way to control the spread of COVID is with policies enforced at a state — rather than a local — level.
Walz has publicly stated that he believes all schools should follow MDH COVID guidance, but he declines to reinstate the peacetime emergency that would allow him to mandate it. Instead, he has left the decision to the Legislature, which in practice means that COVID will continue to spread through Minnesota schools.
Every day that the political dance between Walz and the Republican Senate continues, children and their families are needlessly exposed to risk and our health care system is further strained.
It is magical thinking to expect that a branch of government led by people who pride themselves on science denial will suddenly change course and prioritize health. It is time for Walz to protect Minnesotan students and restart the peacetime emergency.
Compromise can be admirable, but not when it comes to the health of our children.
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