Credit: Office of the Governor, YouTube
After weeks with infectious disease specialist Michael Osterholm warning Americans of the “darkest days” of the pandemic that are yet to come, Governor Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Education announced on Wednesday a new guideline that encourages schools to get as many students as possible back into the classroom for personal instruction.
Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Research Policy at the University of Minnesota, who was a member of President Joe Biden’s advisory panel on coronavirus prior to his inauguration, set the alarm on what he believes to be a major increase in the disease in the coming years. 14 weeks.
Osterholm’s appearance on Monday in CBS This Morning focused almost entirely on the B.1.1.7 threat. variant that led to rigid locks in the UK.
“I think the next 14 weeks are going to be the worst in the pandemic. People don’t want to hear that,” said Osterholm. “But if we look at what these variants are doing, especially this one from the United Kingdom, and see what it has done in Europe, see what it has done in the Middle East, it is now starting to start this here in the United States. let’s see it happen. ”
Osterholm expects “very dark days” until the end of March, even predicting that schools that are currently bringing children back to face-to-face classes will find it difficult to stay in person when the peak arrives.
“I respect Dr. Osterholm very much and he has been a big part of helping us understand,” began Walz when asked about Osterholm’s prediction. “That is not the position of the CDC. It is not the models we are using, IMHE, Mayo … we are not necessarily seeing this. He is not wrong in saying that the variants represent a potential threat.”
Walz said the figures in Minnesota now do not guarantee that schools will remain in distance learning mode, and although he admitted that “we are not yet out of danger”, the situation in the state is now such that “we” are in a position to make that change that reduces the risk to as close to zero as possible. “
There were less than 54,000 cases and 989 deaths across the country on Monday, the lowest totals since October and November, respectively. In Minnesota, the numbers remained at much lower levels than during the October-November peak, which saw the number of hospitalized people with COVID-19 exceed 1,800.
The Minnesota spike during the fall caused a great deal of pressure on the state’s hospital capacity, forcing some patients to move to hospitals across the state due to the limited supply of open beds and available staff to treat patients.
Minnesota Department of Health was also concerned about variants
“We are concerned that we could see variant B117 (the UK variant) becoming more prevalent or even dominant in Minnesota and that could lead to an increase in cases. That is why we are monitoring the situation through our laboratory and work epidemiological “, an MDH spokesman told the BMTN on Tuesday.
“However, we have two weapons against this threat: our continued use of preventive measures, such as wearing masks and physical distance, and the continuous distribution of vaccines. It is very important for each of us to use these tools to do our part to keep them the virus, regardless of the strain, under control. “
Osterholm is not alone in thinking that the virus will increase in the coming weeks.
“We are in a lull now that cases are decreasing. These new variants are more infectious,” said Dr. David Agus, professor of medicine and engineering at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in CBS This Morning on Tuesday. “We will see an increase in the number of cases in the coming weeks with these variants and it is certainly frightening the suffering they can cause.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, also said that B.1.1.7. variant may become the dominant strain in America in late March.