Myself, not a virologist or health professional by any means, but a person who does take COVID very seriously, I’ve studied the very comprehensive data from the Minnesota DOH on a daily basis since last March. As we now approach a full year living in fear of COVID, I do have several questions of those who can provide professionally qualified answers. My following questions are based on a recent Herald Review news article and recent data from the Minnesota DOH as of 1/28/2021:

If only one (1) person in Minnesota ages 0-20 has died from COVID among 75,000 infected in that age group, why have our schools been closed most of the past year?

If only ten (10) people ages 20-30 died among over 90,000 infected in that age group, why have our colleges and Universities been closed until now? Especially when you consider twice as many Minnesotans die from snowmobile accidents each year?

If the consolidated COVID death rate among all Minnesotans under age 65 is less than 0.17% of nearly 400,000 in that age group infected, what was Governor Walz’s purpose for closing down all but the most necessary businesses in Minnesota?

If 2/3rds of the 458,663 COVID deaths in Minnesota took place in licensed homes for the elderly, where they have been quarantined from the general public for nearly a year, why has there been such heavy quarantine imposed on the otherwise healthy everywhere else in Minnesota?

If supplies of the vaccine are in a limited and slow flow of supply to local health providers what has been the purpose behind the last minute decision of the MN DOH to create a “pilot project” that diverts much of that limited supply to certain randomly selected applicants at “pilot projects”, none located in Itasca County, the closest an hour’s drive away and diverted from local family health providers?

Early caution was warranted early last spring but the dynamics and demographics of COVID have been well understood for over six months. What logic, or lack thereof, has been guiding these state COVID policies ever since last fall? And are we going to follow the same winding footpath in decision-making the next time a pandemic crisis like this hits?

IMO the “stop the spread at all cost” decision to protect the 98.5% of our population who have proven survivable if infected can be judged as a costly mistake, which has yet to be measured on “Main Street Minnesota” in dollar amounts. We have also learned in the process that it is most prudent to conserve available hospital beds by allowing local and regional hospitals to make their own decisions about limiting elective health services. A “one size fits all” solution is too often a bad one except perhaps  shopping for motor oil.

 

Bob Roufs

Grand Rapids

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