[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Boothroyd

Minnesota seems on top of it. Hope Joeychitwood comments. One of the best governmental presentations I have seen as Governor announced a state-wide "shelter in place" today, with charts and options he faced for courses of action. Extremely cogent, focused and powerful.

A few notes. According to Mayo Clinic and the University of MN, in a state of 5.6 million, 75K would die without any actions. To put in perspective, roughly 45K die from all causes annually. So you are looking at 2x annual deaths + normal annual death rate if unchecked. 2% of the population dying this year as opposed to the normal .7% death rate (rounded numbers).

He noted we have 245 ICU beds in the system. Easily swamped if the curve can't be controlled. Death rate is 10x higher for those needing ICU treatment but not getting it.

Closing down for two weeks. Using time to build up capacity of ICU, masks, etc. for surge coming, while at the same time stretching out the surge though shelter in place. Comment made about turning sports stadiums and other facilities into treatment centers during this interim period.

Medtronic, based here, apparently represents 15% of the ventilator product production worldwide. 3M known for the N95 masks. They are trying to ramp up and help out. Distribution of product controlled by US Government.

Anyway, my $.02 as to the stakes.

I agree, Daniel. Governor Walz has shown great leadership, focusing on the data and the science. I think his 25 year career as an enlisted soldier in the guard prepared him well.