Twin Ports Health Officials Expect Spike in Covid-19 Cases as School Begins

DULUTH, Minn.– As students across the Northland continue starting the new school year, concerns about COVID-19 are definitely still a part of daily life.  Schools are taking plenty of precautions to focus on safety but area health experts are still worried about the uncertainty that comes with classes being back in session.

Students from elementary to high school to college are back in the classroom in some form. But some public health officials are concerned about the return to schools causing a possible Coronovirus spike over the next few weeks, especially when it comes to colleges and universities.

St. Louis and Douglas County public health officials are expecting to see an increase in Coronavirus cases as the school year moves forward.

With more than 1,100 total cases now reported in St. Louis County since the start of the pandemic, county public health officials say people ages 15-24 are leading the way in positive tests. Especially in the Duluth area with the recent spread mainly coming from social gatherings.

“The association with our institutions of higher education certainly are concerning. Mainly because there is so interaction with a number of different similar aged people,” said Amy Westbrook, Public Health Division Director for St. Louis County.

A big question is how many new cases will be counted for counties with college students?  In Minnesota that question is being asked during contact tracing and will be recorded in the county where the school is located.

Over in Wisconsin, Douglas County Public Health Officer Kathy Ronchi says cases will be recorded in the county where the person’s listed address is when tested.

“We are encouraging college students, especially if they’re living on campus to use the Superior address because we’re going to do all the follow up and isolating here, their contacts are going to be here, they should be counted here,” said Ronchi.

After leveling off a couple of months ago, Douglas County has primarily seen new cases over the past month coming from the teenage to young adult age range.  With 16 new cases within that age group just last week.

Knowing it will take some time to see the full impact of COVID-19 on school campuses, both counties will be closely watching the numbers over the next number of weeks.

“We have people coming into our area from other areas of the state or maybe other states,” said Ronchi. “We’ve had people move out of the area but who maybe visit. We are a mobile population and so we are not surprised to see an increase in cases.”

Health departments across the region are working hard to do contact tracing when anybody tests positive for COVID-19.  Community members are urged to respond when contacted by health department employees.