McLeod Emergency Food Shelf volunteer Cynthia Rodriguez places perishables in the cooler at the McLeod Emergency Food Shelf’s Glencoe site.
With COVID-19 safety protocols and social distancing in place, clients can visit the McLeod Emergency Food Shelf for a safe shopping experience.
With Gov. Tim Walz's announcement last week of further restrictions on bars, restaurants and health clubs, Lennie Albers, executive director of the McLeod Emergency Food Shelf, is preparing for an uptick in client usage.
It's Albers' best guess that the restrictions — without the benefit of an additional unemployment package — will fuel greater food insecurity.
"That extra $600 saved a lot of people," she said.
Remarkably in this year of uncertainty, the local food shelf has not seen a surge in clients.
"We're quieter than we've been compared to last year," she said. "Without the mobile food shelf, we would actually be 24-25% lower per service in 2020 than 2019. With mobile we've brought that up to about a 9% decrease. That tells us we're definitely meeting needs in the community."
Although the initial stay-at-home order was issued in late March, Albers said the ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food shelf wasn't immediate.
"No surge yet," she said. "We're seeing a gradual increase. We've been busier the last couple of weeks than we have been. We're getting there, we're building back up. We went for a very long period of time when our numbers were really low. Mobile is helping to close that gap. People are in a different spot without that stimulus money and extra unemployment money."
Albers said she isn't the only one who keeps expecting a surge in business. Clients — especially those who hadn't been at the food shelf in a while —thought they would be busier, too.
While overall usage of the food shelf is down, Albers said there has been an increase in usage by older clients.
"Compared to last year, usage by age groups has actually decreased except for seniors," she said. "It went from 209 in 2019 to 248 in 2020 in the 65-75 age group, and 64 in 2019 to 116 in 2020 in the 76 or older age group. The others are down pretty consistently about 15% on average for anyone under the age of 64."
One thing that hasn't changed is the support of donors. They haven't forgotten about the food shelf. People continue to make donations including the giving of their stimulus checks, and donations of food or money are still being welcomed.
"What donors were hearing is there was such a need, such a demand," she said. "I truly believe our time is coming. This money is very useful. We put it in the bank and we'll use it to pay our rent and buy food. We don't know what's going to happen the rest of the year or how it will affect our donor base."
In addition to donor support, the food shelf has received COVID relief money, which was used to purchase the mobile bus and start up the program. They also received some county funds, which were earmarked for rent and utilities. Another chunk of COVID money was used to hire a second person for the mobile program, so there are now two people working with it.
MOBILE PROGRAM UPDATE
The McLeod Emergency Food Shelf launched its mobile program in August with eight stops in six county towns. So far, Albers said it has been well received.
"We've learned a few things," she said. "We did alter the schedule by changing two stops along the way and altering the distribution times. We are still going to the six cities and we have eight stops, but now it's Monday through Thursday rather than Monday through Friday. We bundled Brownton and Stewart into one day. We have one stop in Brownton and one stop in Silver Lake, and we adjusted the times. We may add an additional site on the open Friday twice a month."
For the winter months, the food shelf is following a preorder program for mobile clients. This means folks can get an order form at the bus in November, fill it out and drop it off by a specific date and food shelf volunteers will pack their groceries and deliver them in December.
"We'll be going to those same stops and folks can pick up their groceries," Albers said. "Plus, we'll have emergency boxes on hand for those who didn't know they had to pre-register. We also have an order form online. It's definitely a work in progress. If people go to our website (mcleodemergencyfoodshelf.org), go to the mobile outreach tab and at the bottom of the page there is a link to complete the order form. If they have any questions, call me or the dedicated mobile outreach line."
PLANNING AHEAD
Although the surge hasn't materialized, Albers said they are always anticipating greater need.
"We're trying to prepare for whatever is happening or going to happen," she said. "We focus on keeping ourselves in good health, so we can do what we need to do. It's interesting when you talk about disaster preparedness ... We have ideas and plans. If we had to go down to one site, that's the beauty of having two sites and mobile. We have options. We're very aware of where we are and who is there. We are keeping the sites and staff separate, so we can keep doing what we're doing."
- Updated
A sharp upward trend in local COVID-19 cases continued this past week, mirroring the same surge of cases and hospitalizations seen throughout the state.
During a McLeod County Board meeting Nov. 17, Berit Spors, the county’s Health and Human Services director, reported there had been 1,430 cases of COVID-19.
“At the last board meeting, which was Nov. 3, I reported we had 699,” Spors said. “That’s an increase of 731 positive cases in two weeks.”
Confirmed cases continued to rise following the board meeting, reaching 1,630 and nine deaths by Friday. Data available Nov. 17 revealed 1,039 county residents were able to leave isolation after a diagnosis, but 24 were hospitalized, a record for the county. A look back at data provided by the county shows a handful of COVID-19 hospitalizations in April, May, June and July. Recorded hospitalizations climbed to as high as three in a week in August, five in a week in September, and four in a week in October.
At one time, the majority of new cases were centered in Glencoe, but the percentage of total cases has shifted over time, with most now occuring in Hutchinson.
Schools in McLeod County are shifting to more restrictive learning models in the face of growing cases. As of Nov. 16, all secondary students in Hutchinson Public Schools had transitioned to complete distance learning. Elementary students will follow Nov. 30. Glencoe-Silver Lake and Lester Prairie schools have shifted to full distance learning.
The state watches a county’s 14-day new case rate per 10,000 residents to advise schools on which learning models to use. New 14-day case rates are released by the state every Thursday, but they always reflect rates from two weeks prior. Schools are directed to use more cautious models — including a hybrid model with half the student body learning from home, and complete digital learning from home — as the number increases. With a case rate of 50 or higher, schools are usually advised to have all students learn from home.
McLeod County’s case rate was 118.35 per 10,000 residents, as of Nov. 19.
Spors also told County Board members businesses in the county were reporting clusters of cases, which means three or more positive cases among employees are reported.
Long-term care facilities have also noted an uptick in cases. Older populations are generally considered at risk of more dangerous COVID-19 symptoms.
To keep track of the rapidly evolving data, McLeod County is creating a dashboard that will appear on the county website (co.mcleod.mn.us). It will display real-time data with a geographic information system.
“COVID has really hit home in McLeod County,” County Administrator Sheila Murphy said. “I think all of us now know someone or groups of people who are personally effected, and we’re just asking everyone to stay safe.”
Spors reiterated the importance of residents to wear masks in public that cover the mouth and nose, social distance and wash hands frequently. Each practice is required to improve the safety of others.
Hutchinson will soon be the site of one of Minnesota’s free “no barrier” COVID-19 testing sites. Nine more will be spread across rural Minnesota, plus one more in the west metro. The state is also rolling out a COVID-19 test-at-home program.
All new testing sites and the mail program are available to any Minnesotan who wants to be tested, whether they have symptoms or not, and do not require insurance. The Hutchinson site at the National Guard Armory, 1200 Adams St. S.E., opens Nov. 30.
A test can also be delivered through the mail and ordered at tinyurl.com/yxfawy6o.
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Gov. Tim
Walz
Warning that the state was at “a breaking point,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sought to summon the vigilance and compassion of a COVID-weary public Nov. 18, as he announced a sweep of restrictions in the face of a pandemic storm pounding the state with stunning speed.
While not as stringent as the stay-at-home order issued in the spring, the new restrictions will fall like a hammer on large segments of the economy and society, from bars and restaurants to Thanksgiving itself.
“Today marks a somber milestone in the pandemic as we surpass 3,000 Minnesotans lost to COVID-19,” Walz said in remarks delivered just before his address, which was carried live on local TV. “This immense loss strikes at the heart of our state. We are at a breaking point. As hospitals near the crisis of turning away new patients, continuing as things are is simply not sustainable.”
The orders, which were met with a mix of pained reactions, were urged by the state’s top health officials, as the state’s entire medical community, from hospital CEOs to nursing unions, has expressed increasing alarm over the exponential growth of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the entire state and its strain on the health care system.
A letter signed by more than 1,000 physicians and released Nov. 18 reads, in part: “The growth is so rapid that health care systems are pushed to the brink. Daily, there is a scramble to find ICU beds and staff, non-emergent surgeries are delayed, emergency rooms are overwhelmed, and the transfer of patients in need of life-saving care between hospitals is increasingly challenging. This is true for COVID-19 patients and patients with other conditions.”
“The one thing we have got to preserve, we have got to preserve those care providers,” Walz said in his address from the Governor’s Reception Room inside the Capitol.
Walz also sought to comfort his constituents, noting that early vaccine data has shown promise and emphasizing that the power to stop the virus is within everyone: The coronavirus preys on people coming together and sharing each other’s air; wearing a mask, staying apart and limiting any interactions can vanquish it, or at least subdue it to the point where life might resume to at least tenable levels, he said.
WHAT’S CLOSED
Starting 11:59 p.m. Friday, bars and restaurants will be closed to all but carry-out and delivery; fitness centers and gyms will shutter; movie theaters, museums, arcades and bowling alleys will be forced to close; and youth and high school sports and amateur adult sports will cease.
The closures will last for four weeks, ending Dec. 18. Walz said how rapidly things will open up will depend on how well the measures work.
Additionally — and arguably more to the core of life as the chill of late autumn descends — social gatherings will be banned for anyone not living under the same roof. Indoors and outdoors.
That not only forbids neighbors from gathering to watch the Vikings game or a playdate between children, it effectively cancels Thanksgiving for extended families.
Walz acknowledged such an order is practically unenforceable, but his desire to wall off such essential human interaction underscores what state data and health officials are saying: The virus is so widespread that friends and relatives are giving it to each other, he said, at “not one big super-spreader event, but thousands of micro-spreader events.”
Just a week ago, Walz enacted far lesser restrictions, ordering bars to close at 10 p.m., for example. In a call with reporters after his remarks, he acknowledged that there was internal debate in his administration to do more, but that few in his administration, or the wider health community, foresaw the swiftness of the spike in cases.
Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm noted that in the past two weeks, hospital admissions had increased 80 percent. “Things really did move quickly,” she said.
WHAT’S NOT AFFECTED
Grocery stores and other retail establishments will see no changes, although a grocery trade group Wednesday urged consumers not to hoard and to avoid their establishments if they’re experiencing any symptoms.
College and professional sports, which have strict testing and isolation regimens, will be allowed to continue under existing restrictions, such as no spectators being allowed.
So will barber shops, hair salons and other personal care services, where health officials have not seen as much spread of the disease.
Religious services, as well as weddings and funerals, will be allowed to continue, but no social receptions, parties or other post-event gatherings will be allowed.
No medical procedures will be changed by the new restrictions; non-life-saving surgeries, eye exams and dental visits will still be allowed.
Child care will be unaffected, and schools will continue to operate under the same rules: Local school districts decide whether to have students in school or not, with the state providing suggestions based on cases in the community.
NO FEDERAL AID?
The spring shutdowns featured trillions of dollars in aid to compensate shuttered businesses and out-of-work employees.
Those funds are largely spent, and there’s scant help now. The state has a $10 million program, and there might be opportunities for other funds, but policy experts and politicians from both parties agree: Only the federal government, which can legally spend money it doesn’t have, can provide real help.
Republicans and Democrats, who share control of Congress, have not reached an agreement, with pre-election talks foundering amid partisan rancor. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has remained largely disengaged.
That can’t stand, Walz said Wednesday, echoing a sentiment voiced by governors of both parties across the nation, where states from Oregon to New Hampshire — but especially here in the Upper Midwest — are shutting down amid the surge of sickness.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday, Walz pleaded for more funds for personal protective equipment, small businesses, child care providers and the education system.
“More federal funding for all of these priorities is badly needed,” he wrote. “And needed soon.”
REACTION VARIES
While Walz was praised by leaders in the medical community, restaurant and bar owners expressed frustration that they are being cast off without a net — and with short warning.
“Today’s news is heartbreaking, and the impact will be devastating,” said Tony Chesak, executive director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association. “It will most certainly mean significant increased unemployment and further permanent loss of our bars and restaurants across Minnesota. … The short timeline we are now given for indoor closure will also result in unused inventory left to perish and leave small businesses further in the red.”
The Minnesota Business Partnership, which represents the CEOs of more than 100 of the state’s largest employers, issued a statement supporting “limited, targeted measures intended to mitigate the strain on our health care system and the resulting risks posed to all Minnesotans,” with no criticism of Walz.
Politically, it was noteworthy Wednesday that the state’s most prominent Republicans also did not actually criticize the new restrictions of Walz, a Democrat. Several lawmakers called for more collaboration with them, and they echoed the criticisms of business owners who said they weren’t included in strategizing. Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, a former restaurant owner, called on Walz to allow more flexibility for carry-out liquor.
Walz thanked Minnesotans for “asking you to do something that should never be asked again,” and at his closing pivoted to the vaccine, which he predicted could be administered to the first health care workers before the four-week “pause” is over.
“This is different from the spring,” he said, adding later: “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Walz evoked an image of a hypothetical opening day for baseball: “By the time those trees are budding out again, and the time the Twins’ bats are cracking, we’ve whipped this thing. The idea of sitting in that stadium on a warm April day and watching the Twins play while you eat a hot dog and talk to your brother-in-law and next-door neighbor … maybe without a mask, the ability to be able to do that, lies within us.”
