Cases Climb in Some Portions of St. Louis County

St. Louis County has seen overall numbers of COVID-19 case rates creeping up a bit but they are fairly low compared to where they were in October and November.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY – St. Louis County has seen overall numbers of COVID-19 case rates creeping up a bit but they are fairly low compared to where they were in October and November.

According to officials in the Northern portion of the county, some rural areas have seen triple the case rates over the last couple of weeks, including Ely. These cases were related to things like school sports and community gatherings.

Health experts say that at this point, they’re concerned about the variants. While there haven’t been any discovered in St. Louis County, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist in the area. Testing is a big part of understanding how the variant is impacting the region.

“We’re concerned about that because there are communities across Minnesota that are seeing community transmission related to the variants,” said Amy Westbrook, the St. Louis County Public Health Director.

The Minnesota Department of Health recommends that student-athletes get tested once a week and three days before any competition or game.