by April Scheinoha
Reporter

It’s the story that never seems to end – COVID-19. Inter-County Nursing Service Director Kayla Jore repeated the message she has been sharing since the United States began fighting the illness.

“The more we can prevent the spread, the better,” Jore said at the Pennington County Board meeting Tuesday, July 14.

Jore noted that COVID-19 fatigue is setting in. However, she reminded people to wash their hands, social distance and wear masks.

“It’s highly recommended when you’re going out in public that you wear those masks,” said Jore, who noted it helps stop the COVID-19 germs from being spread to others.

Jore admitted that wearing a face mask can be uncomfortable. However, she said, “Masking is very important.”

At the time of the County Board meeting, Pennington County had 54 cases of COVID-19. (As of early Friday morning, that number had grown to 58.) Jore said the county was “seeing another case situation” in long-term care. She noted the unidentified long-term care facility had been doing all the right things, but this was bound to happen. The facility is working closely with the Minnesota Department of Health and the Health Care Coalition.

(The Times has since learned from the MDH website that the long-term care facility is Thief River Care Center. On its Facebook page, TRCC said that one resident had tested positive July 10. All residents and staff have since been tested. As of Thursday, one staff member tested positive and tests were pending for a resident. It is unclear if the staff member is listed among the Pennington County cases.)

MDH lists COVID-19 cases in congregate care facilities on its website. That list is updated each Friday, and facilities are removed from that list if they haven’t reported a new exposure for a minimum of 28 days. Exposures include those who either visited, worked or lived at a facility while they were contagious.

A variety of age levels have been affected by COVID-19 in Pennington County, and Inter-County Nursing Service does case investigation and contact tracing for those cases. The cases range from kids ages 10-19 to adults 70 and over. At this point in time, the majority of the affected individuals in Pennington County – 37 – were in their 20s and 30s.

Emergency Management Director Erik Beitel said the 54 cases amount to about 0.7% of the population. He noted that Beltrami and Roseau counties had steep climbs in COVID-19 cases last week. Polk County cases continue to climb.

Statewide, COVID-19 cases per-day had been in the 200s and 300s. Jore said that number has since jumped significantly to the 600s and 700s. She attributed the increase to going to bars, and attending gatherings such as weddings and Fourth of July events. Jore said it is difficult to conduct contact tracing when someone has been to multiple places in public for several days in a row.

County Board learned that the county is eligible for $1,784,000 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding. The funding will reimburse eligible expenses related to the county’s COVID-19 prevention efforts.

Commissioner Neil Peterson has been appointed to work with department leaders to determine how much the county has spent to prevent COVID-19.

Chairperson Darryl Tveitbakk expected that the county would seek reimbursement for allowing employees to work remotely. Among those employees are some in the Pennington County Human Services Department. Human Services Director Julie Sjostrand said there are still some employees working remotely. “I have most people back two days a week and looking at a third day coming into play,” she said.

Sjostrand indicated that the six-foot distance requirement is an issue. Another issue has been laptop computers as some of the employees need that equipment to do their jobs. She was expected to provide quotes to County Board in the future. Tveitbakk believed that the county may be reimbursed for that purchase through the CARES Act.

Besides being reimbursed for its own costs, the county may use some of its CARES Act funding to help small businesses. Tveitbakk expected that county leaders would discuss that prospect in the future.