The new cases are linked to trips, social gatherings and youth sports activities.
On Monday, Ely’s public school district reported on Facebook that the number of cases inside the school jumped to 21 cases, 18 of which are linked to the Memorial High School building. The other three cases are linked to the Washington Elementary building.
The county public health department advised the school district to do a two-week reset. From this week, all students from the 6th to the 12th grade returned to distance learning, until April 6, in case the number of cases decreases.
St. Louis County Public Health Director Amy Westbrook said in a press release that, even in the midst of a vaccine launch, people need to be vigilant to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
“We know that people are tired and probably experienced an information overload on COVID’s precautions last year,” said Westbrook. “But outbreaks like the ones we’ve seen in several of our communities in the past two weeks make it very clear that we still can’t let our guard down.”
County public health officials are reminding people that anyone identified as being close to a confirmed case, meaning they were less than 6 feet away for 15 minutes or more, should be quarantined for 14 days, regardless of whether symptoms. Those who are not symptomatic should wait five to seven days after exposure before taking the test.
The only exception to the quarantine guidelines is for people who received their second dose of a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or their single dose of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two weeks earlier, according to a county statement.
State health authorities already recommend that students take the test at least once every two weeks, while student-athletes should be tested weekly.
On Wednesday, Minnesota health officials reported 51 new cases of COVID-19 and a new death in northeastern Minnesota.
The person who died was a Lake County resident in his late 70s. They were among the nine new deaths reported in Minnesota. Lake County has already lost 19 residents to COVID-19.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported two days of new cases on Wednesday after experiencing technical difficulties on Tuesday.
Douglas County recorded 13 new cases in those two days, while Ashland County recorded 3 new cases. No new cases have been reported in Bayfield County.
Wisconsin health officials have reported 10 new deaths from COVID-19 in the state, none of which in the three county counties.
New cases and seven-day averages in Northland counties:
- Aitkin – 1; 0.9.
- Carlton – 8; 7.1.
- Cook – 0; 0.6
- Itasca – 7; 11.4.
- Koochiching – 12; 3.1.
- Lake – 2; 1
- São Luís – 21; 29.4.
- Ashland – 3; 1
- Bayfield – 0; 0.7.
- Douglas – 13; 4.4.
Another 1,200 residents of northeastern Minnesota received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total to more than 110,000 people with at least one dose in the seven counties region. This includes people who received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine.
Ashland, Bayfield and Douglas counties collectively registered another 120 new first vaccinations on Wednesday. More than 22,000 people in these three counties received at least one dose of the vaccine.