Tuesday, August 4
The state has identified more than 57,160 cases of COVID-19 as of today, with 50,426 of these patients no longer required to be isolated. 1,620 deaths have been reported. For more information on the current situation, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website.
At the bottom of this email, you will find Met Council workforce statistics related to COVID-19 leave that have been reported to the Employee Resource Center.
Do you have thoughts or concerns on the content or frequency of these COVID-19 update emails? We would love to hear your feedback through the online COVID-19 form, so we can make sure these emails are providing the most useful and timely information to staff.
Transit employees: Free testing at Heywood clinic and drive-up sites
Metro Transit employees are reminded that free COVID-19 virus testing is available through HealthPartners. Tests can be administered at the Met Council's Heywood Well@Work clinic or at HealthPartners and Park Nicollet drive-up sites throughout the region.
Testing is available to Metro Transit employees even if you don’t have any symptoms and even if you are not covered by the Met Council's health plan. All testing is at no cost to you.
Please follow the new online process for scheduling a test at a drive-up site.
Heywood Well@Work clinic:
COVID-19 tests need to be scheduled so that regular clinic services can continue.
- Tests will only be given for employees who are not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Drive-up sites can be used for employees experiencing symptoms.
- Call 952.967.7468 to schedule an appointment. Tell the scheduler you are a Met Council employee and a "transit essential worker."
- Location: 560 6th Ave. N. Minneapolis, MN 55411 (inside the employee entrance to the Heywood Offices)
- Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Drive-up testing sites:
Drive-up sites can be used for employees experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Please follow this new online process for scheduling a test at a drive-up site:
- Visit healthpartners.com/lp/care/back-to-business-covid-19-testing.
- Select “Start my screening.”
- Sign in to your HealthPartners account or continue as a guest.
- Answer questions about your symptoms, if any.
- Enter the 5-digit employer code: 10397.
- Confirm details about your appointment; an email confirmation will be sent to you.
Note: We heard from a few employees who had recently been denied when they called to schedule an appointment for a test at the Heywood clinic. HealthPartners confirmed this was done in error and they have educated their call center staff to ensure this does not happen again. To do your part when scheduling, make sure to identify yourself as a Met Council employee.
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Robert/Jackson street: Complete the office reopening survey
There are no plans to return teleworking employees back to work sites at this time. We continue to evaluate the situation, and the survey results and feedback from staff will help with making an informed decision. Employees at the Met Council who are teleworking will continue to do so at minimum through Thanksgiving, but possibly through the end of the year. Returning teleworking staff to work sites will not happen all at once; rather it will be a phased approach to slowly increase the number of people in the workplace as conditions allow.
Updated plan:
As we look ahead to an eventual return to work sites, and to ensure we provide a safe and healthy workplace for all our workers, the Incident Command team developed and put into effect the COVID-19 Workplace Reset Plan. We updated the plan last week to address the statewide mask mandate now in effect.
Hearing from employees:
Our primary goal is to mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID-19 in our workplaces and broader communities, and that requires full cooperation among employees and management. The Incident Command team is working with work sites and divisions to hear from employees and better understand all of our needs and concerns when it comes to opening up workplaces and returning teleworking staff to on-site.
Employees might receive surveys or instructions to meet with managers to relay their concerns and needs, and we encourage everyone to respond promptly and fully so we can prepare plans that best support our workforce. Providing this feedback is voluntary, but we need to hear from you to be able to meet the breadth of needs and concerns employees will have.
Central office employees (those who primarily work out of Robert and Jackson street offices) were emailed a survey for feedback last week. This anonymous survey is open through this Thursday, August 6.
Mask up, Minnesota!
By combatting the spread of COVID-19, masking is key to reopening our society. It will put us in a better position to keep our businesses open, get our children back in school, and help us return to the activities we love.
The recent executive order from the Governor requires Minnesotans to wear a face covering in indoor businesses and indoor public settings, and to comply with the order, we created a face coverings procedure (PDF) for the Met Council, which went into effect July 25.
Read more on MetNet about our procedure and best practices for wearing face coverings.
Remember:
- A face covering is not a substitute for physical distancing, but it is especially important in situations when it is not possible to maintain at least a six-foot distance from other individuals who are not members of the same household.
- Wearing a mask does not mean people who are sick should be in public. Stay home if you are sick, unless you need to seek medical care.
- Everyone who can wear a mask should.
- When leaving home, have a face covering with you at all times to be prepared to comply with these requirements.
- Even if you've had COVID-19, you should still wear a mask because we do not know if people can get sick with COVID-19 again.
- Do not put masks or face coverings on children under age 2.
- Do not put masks or face coverings on anyone who has trouble breathing, is unconscious, or unable to remove the mask without help.
- People with disabilities or special health needs might not be able to wear a mask.
Check the MetNet page, FAQs
For the most current information related to the COVID-19 outbreak, visit the MetNet page and be sure to review the FAQs for staff and managers. They are updated as we have new information to communicate.
If you have questions, talk to your manager or supervisor or submit a question or concern in the online COVID-19 form.
Check out the latest issues of Transit Insights, which was published Friday, and The Wire, which was published today.
For those who cannot easily access MetNet and/or would like a printable PDF of the FAQs, here are the most recent versions of these pages:
Met Council workforce statistics
The following statistics related to COVID-19 have been reported to the Employee Resource Center. The "active positive COVID-19" number is the number of employees who currently have a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. The "cumulative" number marks the total number of employees who received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis since the pandemic began.
Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis (August 4):
 
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