The COVID-19 Pandemic in St. Louis County, Minnesota

The core responsibilities of the public health system are to prevent disease and injury, promote healthy communities, and protect against health threats. Over the last three years of the pandemic, our role at St. Louis County Public Health, and those of community organizations, has shifted as we all have supported individuals, families and communities throughout St. Louis County in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we transition towards endemicity, it's important to reflect on the accomplishments of our staff, but also recognize that we do not operate in a vacuum. The dedication of our community partners and St. Louis County residents made our work possible.  

Throughout the pandemic, public health professionals in St. Louis County worked alongside social service professionals, emergency management staff, safety and risk staff, and countless internal and external partners through different phases, roles and responsibilities highlighted in this Story Map. Each contribution was valuable:

• community partners made their space available ensuring universal access to COVID-19 vaccination and testing clinic

• county staff and local businesses provided personal protective equipment

• infection control consultations ensured accurate information was being shared

• providing essential services so people could isolate and quarantine in respectful and dignified

• reaching out directly to individuals at highest risk of health complications

• producing educational outreach to the community through public service announcements and other media to provide prevention tips and vaccination information

The last three years have been exhausting and challenging on many different levels. After the spikes in case rates due to the delta and omicron variants, we are now experiencing manageable transmission rates and lower morbidity and mortality than we’ve seen throughout most of the pandemic. In May 2023, the Public Health Emergency for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) declared in January 2020 is scheduled to end, and although we will most likely continue to see peaks and valleys in our disease trends, we believe the worst of the pandemic is now behind us.

The first case of COVID-19 in St. Louis County, MN was recorded on March 17th, 2020. Since then, there has been over 60,000 laboratory-confirmed cases, over 3,000 hospitalizations, and over 600 deaths due to COVID-19. Case data included in our COVID-19 Dashboard below only represent those where a test was submitted and returned a positive result for COVID-19. At-home test results are not included. As a result, these data should be interpreted with caution as they likely do not reflect the true burden of COVID-19 throughout St. Louis County. Note: the data included in our COVID-19 Dashboard will not be updated after 3/9/2023

As we transition from our pandemic reporting, please remember that additional information regarding COVID-19 case and vaccination data can be found at the  Minnesota Department of Health  or the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

Public Health and Human Services has been both a primary vaccine provider and a safety net for individuals who may encounter barriers accessing care in traditional health care settings. Over the course of the pandemic, PHHS has administered over 48,000 COVID-19 vaccinations at over 640 clinics throughout the county. We are grateful to the more than 70 community partners who opened their spaces to us and for their dedication to improving the health of so many St. Louis County residents. Note: the data in the COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard will not be updated after 3/9/2023

We'd also like to thank the 86 individuals that registered to volunteer with PHHS through Minnesota Responds for their help in keeping our vaccination clinics running as smoothly as possible. All together, our volunteers totaled over 9,300 hours of service at our vaccination clinics administering vaccinations and assisting our guests. We can't thank you all enough!

Remember when tests for COVID-19 were scarce in the early months of the pandemic? St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services dedicated staff and operated as a testing provider for vulnerable populations in the early days of the pandemic. Starting in early 2020, PHHS staff has tested more than 2,000 individuals across the county. As we transitioned our staff to be a vaccine provider, we helped community partners set up their own testing protocols and distributed over 13,000 COVID-19 test kits that they administered in their own organizations.

Public Health and Human Services hired two Infection Control Specialists to advise community partners throughout the county on infection prevention measures during the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, our infection Control Specialists offered consultations to 487 organizations in our community. These included long-term care/skilled nursing facilities, child care centers, camps, large events, various community clubs, and businesses.

As part of our Incident Command Structure, we assigned public health staff to liaison with various community partners in schools, child care, long-term care/skilled nursing facilities, clinics and hospitals, city and township officials, and many others. We provided updates to community partners regarding disease trends, testing and vaccination events, and changes in COVID-19 information directly impacting their organizations. In total, our weekly newsletters were sent out to over 1,000 organizations throughout St. Louis County, building and strengthening relationships that continue to this day.

St. Louis County's Emergency Management (EM) and Safety and Risk Management (S&R) teams filled a vital role in the procurement and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) throughout St. Louis County and the Northland. Over the course of the pandemic, our EM and S&R groups obtained over 500,000 units of PPE and other emergency preparedness items and distributed over 160,000 units throughout the region to 83 different community partners. These include city and tribal law enforcement agencies, corrections, fire departments, neighboring counties in the Northland, long-term care/skilled nursing facilities, child care and preschool centers, and supplying all of St. Louis County PHHS COVID-19 vaccination clinics with PPE.

 Minnesota Statute 144.419(g)  states. "The needs of persons isolated and quarantined shall be addressed in a systematic and competent fashion, including, but not limited to, providing adequate food, clothing, shelter, means of communication between those in isolation or quarantine and those outside these settings, medication, and competent medical care." St. Louis County PHHS contracted with 8 facilities (4 in the Duluth area and 4 on the Iron Range and northern portion of the county) for isolation and quarantine (I&Q) purposes during the pandemic. These sites were secured to provide individuals experiencing some form of housing insecurity, either sheltered or unsheltered, a place to await test results or recover after testing positive for COVID-19. In total, 228 individuals throughout the county were provided lodging and other essential services at our I&Q sites.

PHHS also provided essential services to 239 county residents that had no other means to acquire essential supplies after testing positive and recovering from COVID-19 in their homes. Our "Person of the Day" staff was available on a 24-hour basis to respond to any possible emergencies, and supply county residents with everyday essentials ranging from 14-day food supplies to personal hygiene products.

From the beginning of the pandemic, guidance changed often as more was learned about this new virus. St. Louis County Public Health provided messaging on topics including: tips on how to protect oneself and prevent the spread, symptoms to watch for and when to seek medical care, the importance of masking, who was eligible for a vaccine and when, and the protections offered by the vaccine and later boosters.

We worked with traditional media, social media, and numerous community partners, recognizing that the messenger was as important as the message in getting accurate information to people.

Among the most notable outreach efforts: a series of public service announcements in late 2020 featuring the “COVID Ref” took a humorous approach to prevention tips. In February 2021, we coordinated with local media to produce  an hour-long program on the COVID-19 vaccine . And in the summer of 2021, we brought back the COVID Ref character, along with numerous well known local athletes, who shared testimonials on why they chose to get vaccinated.

"Community partnerships are the fabric of the public's health, and the importance of state and local partnerships has never been more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenging times have been accompanied by uplifting experiences and meaningful partnerships as we've navigated this response as a community. We have built new collaborations that support future public health initiatives as we begin to focus on recovery efforts. This includes addressing public health issues exacerbated by the pandemic such as rising mental health concerns, substance use, and food insecurity."