The Northfield School District Covid-19 numbers were updated yesterday. The news, as is reflective of the rest of the state, is mixed. 
While the numbers continue to slowly climb, there is optimism that new Covid-19 cases in students from pre-k through 12th grade, has peaked across the state. According to a report by the Star Tribune yesterday, the high-water mark was the week ending October 2nd, when there were 3,000 active cases among students statewide. In the last week of October that number had dropped to 751 cases, but then increased again to 996 in the first week of November.
In Rice County, the numbers appear to follow the same trajectory. The number of new Covid cases dropped steadily in the month of October, and then increased last week. In the Northfield Schools there are currently 39 active cases, up just slightly from the end of last week. Overall, the district has seen 125 active cases of Covid-19 since August 31.
Northfield Superintendent of Public Schools, Dr. Matt Hillmann, said the Influenza-Like-Illness rate, which is able to measure roughly the number of people showing symptoms that could be Covid-19, runs between .94% and 2.2% from school-to-school. Minnesota regulations stipulate that when those numbers reach 5%, students must go into distance learning, so Hillmann characterized the current rate as “pretty good.”
He said the district continues to take mitigation measures against the virus in order to help families and ensure that students remain in in-person learning throughout the year. Last week, a testing facility, offering the rapid molecular Cue test that can provide results in about twenty minutes, was opened at the district offices. Hillmann said the capacity is limited, but it is another service the district is able to offer.
“We’re able to schedule around 15 appointments a day. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but for those fifteen people, they might have [otherwise] had to drive to Lakeville, or Faribault, or someplace else if they couldn’t find anything in the community. Again, this kind of thing should not be the school district’s job, but it’s been a barrier for our families, so we are trying to remove it.”
Dr. Hillmann said they will look at expanding the number of available appointments next week.
Also, next Thursday, Rice County Public Health will host a vaccination clinic at the Community Education Center. Hillmann said this will be available to anyone age 5 and up and was quick to point out that the clinic will take place in a building that is not an elementary school and will be after school hours.
The demand for appointments has been quite high, he said, so the County is looking at adding to the capacity and expanding the number of available appointments.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
Rice County still wrestling with overdoses, logistical barriers
Rice County Attorney John Fossum said that drug overdoses continue to be a major health problem in the area, and with the advent of cheaper, more powerful drugs becoming readily available, the problem is not one that is easily solvable.
Fossum said overdoses have increased at an alarming rate over the last two years. Sevral people have died in Rice County just this year after using meth or heroin that has been cut with fentanyl. The synthetic opioid that is said to be 50-100 times more potent than morphine is also relatively inexpensive, so dealers use it in the drugs they sell to expand their product stock and make more money. But because Fentanyl is so much more powerful, it also makes the drugs that much more toxic.
As the Healthy Community Initiative has been studying the problem, Fossum said there were things he found interesting in their findings. The first is that many of the overdose victims are people who are not necessarily known to local law enforcement and have not had much contact with the criminal justice system. The second is that the people who survive an overdose are very likely to overdose again, and generally that happens in a relatively short timeframe. Because of that, he said the county is offering help and is monitoring recent OD victims.
Fossum said help is available to anyone dealing with drug issues or addiction in Rice County. The county’s Drug Treatment Court, in fact, is designed for that exact purpose. There are obstacles in the way, however, and sometimes, it is the users themselves.
“There is a lot of opportunity out there for people to get help when they accept that they need it. That’s been a problem, that people don’t see that they have a problem. You can’t get help – you can’t get well – until you think that you need help dealing with this issue.”
The pandemic has been a major hindrance as well, he said. Because of problems with testing due to social distancing, and zoom meetings simply not being as effective as in-person meetings, accountability has been a problem for the program. The drug court is focusing on those issues, he said, and is looking for more ways to help keep people sober and safe.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Rice County Attorney John Fossum can be heard here
Fine Craft Collective returns for holiday shoppers
The Fine Craft Collective has returned to Downtown Northfield and will occupy the main gallery of the Northfield Arts Guild through
December 24th.
The FCC is a co-operative holiday pop-up store featuring 30 local and regional artists who work in ceramics, glass, jewelry, photography, textiles, wood and more. Each year during November and December, these emerging and established artisans showcase their newest functional and decorative works intended for gift giving.
As problems with the global supply chain persist, the idea of gift buying from local suppliers is becoming less of a quaint idea, and more of a necessity. Lawrenz said FCC shoppers will find a variety of goods for special gifts and everyday life, and they will know that their purchase will directly support their community.
The Fine Craft Collective is open from 12-5pm Wednesday through Friday, Saturdays from 11-4, and occasional Sundays. For more details, and to see the roster of participating artist, visit finecraftcollective.com.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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