Health workers in Rochester area this week for emergency response survey

Public health workers are going door-to-door this week in Olmsted County to conduct voluntary surveys and free testing as part of an effort to better understand how Covid-19 is impacting Minnesota communities.

The initiative — known as a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, or ‘CASPER’ survey — was developed by the CDC. Similar surveys have been used before to collect info during public health emergencies such as hurricanes, oil spills, and the Zika virus outbreak.

Olmsted County is among several areas in the state where the health department is deploying teams to conducts the surveys. Health officials say the information collected in the survey will help the state:

—Understand how COVID-19 has spread in Minnesota communities.

—Understand what caused COVID-19 to spread in certain areas.

—Explore how COVID-19 transmission and infection rates differ among regions in Minnesota.

—Identify the percentage of people infected with COVID-19 that have no symptoms.

—Improve health messaging and help stop COVID-19 spread.

When going to neighborhoods, the public health workers will wear vests with name tags that identify them as members of a CASPER team. Their vehicles will have magnets on the side that say, "COVID-19 Survey Team."

The workers, according to the county, are expected to be in town all week.

The Minnesota Department of Health stresses that participation is voluntary — and no one is required to take part in the survey.

Additional info on the survey can be found here.

Follow this link for the latest Olmsted County Covid-19 figures.