Wastewater data shows an uptick in COVID-19 infections in many parts of the U.S., including Minnesota, this July.

“It definitely seems that COVID case counts are rising both nationally and locally,” said Dr. Priya Sampathkumar, an internal medicine physician and head of Infection Prevention and Control at Mayo Clinic.

Data from WastewaterSCAN, which has Minnesota data from St. Cloud, Red Wing, Mankato and Rochester, shows a rising level of COVID RNA found in Rochester’s wastewater since late June. The amount of virus detected had been low and stable through the early summer. Now, the level detected mirrors the amount of virus found in late January 2024, as a spike of winter cases fell.

Wastewater data for four Minnesota cities (Rochester, Red Wing, Mankato and St. Cloud) from April 22, 2024 to July 22, 2024 all show increases in the amount of COVID-19 RNA found in wastewater, indicating that more people are catching COVID. (Contributed / Wastewater SCAN)

That has translated to primary care providers seeing more patients lately with respiratory illness symptoms, Sampathkumar said, although the number of self-reported positive tests has increased. And though the number of people hospitalized with COVID has increased slightly this month, Sampathkumar said, most cases “still seem to be relatively mild, probably because of prior immunity either from vaccination or prior COVID illness.”

The percentage of visits to local emergency rooms is still declining, however, said Matthew Giljork, an Olmsted County Public Health epidemiologist.

“Hospitalizations have not translated to an increase in ICU utilization or deaths so far,” Giljork said.

At Olmsted Medical Center, they have not observed an increase in hospitalizations, said Dr. Odette El Helou, an infectious disease physician at OMC.

At the state level, per the Minnesota Department of Health’s July 25 update, COVID hospitalization rates increased slightly over the previous week but still remain low.

A summer wave of COVID infections is not necessarily unusual — Sampathkumar said it appears that COVID is settling into a seasonal pattern: a peak of cases in the winter, and a smaller peak in the summer.

Other factors, El Helou said, are people traveling more during the summer — and therefore being more exposed to the virus — and the level of protection from last fall’s COVID vaccines is beginning to wane.

Same prevention measures

To avoid getting sick, the same precautions that health professionals have been sharing since the start of the pandemic still work.

“Practice good hygiene, wash hands,” said El Helou, “good ventilation — stay outdoors if possible, open the windows of your home if you have other people in.”

For vaccinations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month recommended that everyone 6 months and older receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID vaccine this fall alongside the seasonal influenza vaccine.

“COVID boosters, we hope, will be available by early September,” Sampathkumar said. “Everyone should definitely seek out that vaccine and get it. As we’ve all seen, getting vaccinated may not completely protect you from getting a COVID infection, but it’s very, very effective at preventing serious illness and preventing deaths.”

If you do get sick, get tested early to see if it is COVID, Sampathkumar said, so you can seek treatment like Paxlovid if you are eligible.

“We recommend you stay home if you have symptoms and that you wear a mask for at least the time that you have symptoms and potentially for up to five days after your symptoms improve to protect everyone else around you,” Sampathkumar said.

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Police are investigating the unattended death of a Moorhead woman whose body was found Saturday night, July 27.

The body of Angela Hart, 38, was discovered by a bystander in a tall, grassy area of a public park in the 3000 block of Rivershore Drive, the Police Department reported Sunday morning.

Moorhead Police got called to the scene about 8:10 p.m. Saturday.

Hart was previously reported as missing.

Police reported that the body had been in that spot for some time, and there were no initial apparent signs of trauma.

Hart’s body will be taken to the Ramsey County (Minnesota) Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Members of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Moorhead Fire Department assisted at the scene.

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Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to take away the governor’s power to unilaterally spend federal money, a reaction to the billions of dollars that flowed into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was free to spend most of that money as he pleased, directing most of it toward small businesses and economic development, angering Republicans who argued the Legislature should have oversight.

That’s what would happen under a pair of related constitutional amendments up for voter approval in the Aug. 13 primary election. The changes would apply to Evers and all future governors and cover any federal money to the state that comes without specific spending requirements, often in response to disasters or other emergencies.

Democrats and other opponents are mobilizing against the amendments, calling them a legislative power grab that would hamstring governors’ ability to quickly respond to a future natural disaster, economic crisis or health emergency.

If the amendments pass, Wisconsin’s government “will become even more dysfunctional,” said Julie Keown-Bomar, executive director of Wisconsin Farmers Union.

“Wisconsinites are so weary of riding the partisan crazy train, but it is crucial that we show up at the polls and vote ‘no’ on these changes as they will only make us go further off the rails,” she said in a statement.

But Republicans and other backers say it’s a necessary check on the governor’s current power, which they say is too broad.

The changes increase “accountability, efficiency, and transparency,” Republican state Sen. Howard Marklein, a co-sponsor of the initiative, said at a legislative hearing.

The two questions, which were proposed as a single amendment and then separated on the ballot, passed the GOP-controlled Legislature twice as required by law. Voter approval is needed before they would be added to the state constitution. The governor has no veto power over constitutional amendments.

Early, in-person absentee voting for the Aug. 13 election begins Tuesday across the state and goes through Aug. 11. Locations and times for early voting vary.

Wisconsin Republicans have increasingly turned to voters to approve constitutional amendments as a way to get around Evers’ vetoes. Midway through his second term, Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor in Wisconsin history.

In April, voters approved amendments to bar the use of private money to run elections and reaffirm that only election officials can work the polls. In November, an amendment on the ballot seeks to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in local elections.

Republicans put this question on the August primary ballot, the first time a constitutional amendment has been placed in that election where turnout is much lower than in November.

The effort to curb the governor’s spending power also comes amid ongoing fights between Republicans and Evers over the extent of legislative authority. Evers in July won a case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court that challenged the power the GOP-controlled Legislature’s budget committee had over conservation program spending.

Wisconsin governors were given the power to decide how to spend federal money by the Legislature in 1931, during the Great Depression, according to a report from the Legislative Reference Bureau.

“Times have changed and the influx of federal dollars calls for a different approach,” Republican Rep. Robert Wittke, who sponsored the amendment, said at a public hearing.

It was a power that was questioned during the Great Recession in 2008, another time when the state received a large influx of federal aid.

But calls for change intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government handed Wisconsin $5.7 billion in aid between March 2020 and June 2022 in federal coronavirus relief. Only $1.1 billion came with restrictions on how it could be spent.

Most of the money was used for small business and local government recovery grants, buying emergency health supplies and paying health care providers to offset the costs of the pandemic.

Republicans pushed for more oversight, but Evers vetoed a GOP bill in 2021 that would have required the governor to submit a plan to the Legislature’s budget committee for approval.

Republican increased the pressure for change following the release of a nonpartisan audit in 2022 that found Evers wasn’t transparent about how he decided where to direct the money.

One amendment specifies the Legislature can’t delegate its power to decide how money is spent. The second prohibits the governor from spending federal money without legislative approval.

If approved, the Legislature could pass rules governing how federal money would be handled. That would give them the ability to change the rules based on who is serving as governor or the purpose of the federal money.

For example, the Legislature could allow governors to spend disaster relief money with no approval, but require that other money go before lawmakers first.

Opposing the measures are voting rights groups, the Wisconsin Democratic Party and a host of other liberal organizations, including those who fought to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobbying group, and the Badger Institute, a conservative think tank, were the only groups that registered in support in the Legislature.

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