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By Michael Stoll, Austin Daily Herald

 

As protests over the death of George Floyd occur throughout the nation, health officials are keeping an eye on how these large gatherings could affect the spread of COVID-19.

“We’ve all been watching the events unfold across the country and I think there’s been a lot of a concern with the protests regarding people in close proximity,” said Dr. Deepi Goyal, M.D., Regional Chair of Clinical Practice for Southeast Minnesota. “We at Mayo really do feel it’s important for people to get their voices heard, but encourage them to do so safely. We want to promote peaceful events and maintain protective measures instituted earlier in the pandemic.”

Steps people can take to ensure preventing the spread of COVID-19 during the demonstrations include wearing masks, maintaining hand hygiene and practicing social distancing.

“When they wear a mask, they do it to protect others, but as they touch their masks, they need to make sure they clean their hands, as those masks can be collective vectors for the virus,” Goyal said.

Health officials have also been monitoring recent upticks in cases in southeast Minnesota, particularly in businesses with a significant number of employees.

“We’ve seen significant upticks in some of the southeast Minnesota region,” Goyal said. “We’ve been working closely with many employers, the Minnesota Department of Health and the county emergency teams to make sure we can provide tests for those employees and their families and make sure people are isolated while making sure those businesses are still operating.”

Goyal said Mayo hopes to institute mass testing for larger employers while stressing the importance of quarantining positive cases.

“It’ll be important for people to understand the importance of quarantining if they test positive,” he said. “It’s important to isolate oneself in a place they can be away from others and not leave. No one would wish a quarantine on anyone, but it’s going to be increasingly important as we see our numbers increase in the region and state. We are working with (employers) to make sure that they, with the consent of the employees, are aware of the results and can keep employees that test positive at home.”

Goyal added that Mayo has the capacity for large scale testing and has been working with employers to come up with testing plans.