Dr. Colleen Swank Vice President-Clinic Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota
Covid-19 shows no signs of fading away and in fact, the rates continue to rise in Minnesota and Beltrami County. Dr. Colleen Swank joined BemidjiNow.com’s Kev Jackson to discuss the latest trends, possible causes and the continually growing body of knowledge about Covid-19. The interview, conducted just before President Donald Trump’s positive Covid-19 diagnosis, also featured the latest numbers. But in the several days since the interview, those numbers have climbed considerably.
Swank, at the time, noted that there were 554 total Covid-19 cases in Beltrami County. In fact, it’s climbed another 40 and currently sits at 594. She also noted that 176 were new in the previous two weeks. The latest number is 189 in the last 14 days. 104 of those cases are active as of October 9th and there have been five Covid-19 deaths in the county.
Other counties in the region are also seeing increases. Cass County has 238 cases, with 79 new cases in the past two weeks. Clearwater County has 39 total cases since the outbreak began, with a dozen new cases in the past 14 days, and Hubbard County is at 184 total cases. Most concerning for Hubbard is that almost 50 percent of those cases have come in the past two weeks.
Swank discussed the increase in testing, proven safety strategies and shared her thoughts on finding that “sweet spot” of living life and staying safe.
