Many area counties saw increases in their 14-day COVID-19 case rate in Thursday’s report from the Minnesota Department of Health. Four counties had lower case rates than in last week's report.
The state reported that 19 of its 87 counties have case rates of 50 or higher per 10,000 residents, and five of them — Big Stone, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle and Yellow Medicine — are in west central Minnesota.
Chippewa and Kandiyohi counties have case rates in the 70s. Chippewa, at 79.93 cases per 10,000, and Kandiyohi, at 75.48 cases, have the second and third highest rates in the state. The highest is Rock County with a 90.30 case rate.
The majority of the state's counties have case rates between 20 and 50.
School districts use the case rates along with information from public health officials and other sources to consider how to operate their schools during the pandemic. The state releases the report every Thursday.
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A high case rate does not necessarily lead to a change in a school district's learning model. Many other factors are taken into account.
The case rate measures the county’s number of newly confirmed cases over a two-week period per 10,000 residents. The state divides the number of new cases by the number found by dividing a county’s population by 10,000.
The state considers a 14-day case rate of 10 or higher to represent an elevated risk of COVID-19 transmission in the community, especially when the level is sustained or increases over time.
This list includes the current case rate for area counties from Sept. 27 to Oct. 10 and how it changed from a week ago:
- Big Stone County: 53.83, up
- Chippewa County: 79.93, up
- Kandiyohi County: 75.48, up
- Lac qui Parle County: 50.20, down
- Meeker County: 26.86, up
- Pope County: 27.32, up
- Redwood County: 26.74, down
- Renville County: 31.93, up
- Stearns County: 46.36, up
- Swift County: 34.00, down
- Yellow Medicine County: 53.71, down
The state’s recommended school options for operating schools:
Case rate of 0 to less than 10: In-person learning for all students
Case rate of 10 to less than 20: Elementary in-person, middle/high school hybrid
Case rate of 20 to less than 30: Both hybrid
Case rate of 30 to less than 50: Elementary hybrid, middle/high school distance
Case rate of 50 or more: Both distance.
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