Minnesota State Officials to the public: life can continue! (March 13 story)

This article was posted on Friday afternoon, March 13.

Stay home when you are sick! This request was repeated this afternoon at a 1 o'clock press conference by Minnesota state officials. To summarize: the public is asked to make temporary adjustments to public events and personal interactions. The virus is spread primarily by respiratory functions such as coughing or sneezing. It can also be spread by touching your nose and mouth and then another surface or person.

The basic request to follow is that, in public settings, a person limits close contact with others for 10 minutes or less. The preferred distance from others is six feet in public settings when that is possible. Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds or more and cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze!

State officials have encouraged people to continue shopping, buying groceries and going about daily life with continuity of operations.

As of Friday afternoon, March 13, the state of Minnesota has 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients.

Governor Tim Walz has declared a peacetime state of emergency, and the Minnesota National Guard may be activated in order to help with the state response to the virus.

Also, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reminded the public to watch out for COVID-19 related scams or price gouging taking place.

"It's disgusting to think that a scam artist may take advantage of this situation, but unfortunately, it happens," said Ellison.

A couple scams Ellison gave an example of are fake COVID-19 vaccines and fake social media posts soliciting donations to fake charities. Ellison's office knows every registered charity in the state. A third scam includes e-mailing or texting fake links purporting to be COVID-19 related information, but instead they allow a hacker to place malicious software on a user's cell phone or computer.

The phone number for the COVID-19 hotline from the Minnesota Department of Health is 651-201-3920.

Click on this link to read more information on fighting the virus: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/action.html.