Updated: Olmsted Co. recommends masking indoors to curb spread of delta variant

Olmsted County revised its Covid-19 recommendations on Monday to encourage all residents — regardless of vaccination status — to again wear face coverings in public, indoor settings.

Public health officials said the area has now reached the threshold to classify as a “county with substantial community transmission for Covid-19,” based on guidance from the CDC and Minnesota Department of Health.

There have been 84 new cases reported in the county over the past seven days — the equivalent of 53 per 100,000 people, which is slightly above the CDC threshold for the indoor mask recommendation.

On Tuesday, Olmsted County Public Health Director Graham Briggs said while those numbers are “in the grand scheme of things … pretty low overall,” the concern is the direction things are moving in.

The spread of the delta variant, he said, has led to a spike in new cases over the past couple of weeks — suggesting that despite high levels of vaccination locally, community transmission is still happening.

“We understand and respect that the public isn’t going to be excited about this, but the local data is showing us again that it is time to act,” said Briggs.

The recommendation laid out by the county this week encourages all residents to wear masks in the following situations:

—In public, indoor settings in areas with substantial or high community transmission (which includes Olmsted County currently.)

—Where there is a high risk of Covid-19 spread or complications from Covid-19 infection, such as schools, health care settings, homeless shelters, and correctional facilities.

—If you are immunocompromised or at an increased risk for severe disease from Covid-19.

—If you live or frequently interact with someone who is immunocompromised, not fully vaccinated, or at an increased risk for severe disease from Covid-19.

As of now, there has been no action from the county or city to implement a mask mandate. Briggs reiterated that point Tuesday, noting that he is not aware of any movement toward a community-wide mask requirement.

“It’s not a requirement, it’s a recommendation from public health,” Briggs said of the guidance. (Later Tuesday, the county did issue a mask requirement, but only for county-operated buildings.)

The announcement from the county followed a move earlier in the week by Mayo Clinic to require all staff, regardless of their role or Covid-19 vaccination status, to wear masks while in Mayo buildings.

Mayo says the decision to extend masking to all staff is a result of the continued spread of the delta variant. The more contagious variant now makes up at least 80 percent of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S.

To lower the rising number of cases and hospitalizations — and to once again lift masking mandates — Mayo reiterated the importance of getting vaccinated. While new evidence suggests that vaccinated people with breakthrough infections can spread the delta variant, completing both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine does still offer significant protection against the virus and can also be effective at preventing serious disease.

You can visit this link to learn more about getting a vaccine. 

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.