Thursday, February 18
The state has identified 476,292 cases of COVID-19 as of today, with 463,041 of these patients no longer required to be isolated. 6,404 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.
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At a glance
What you need to know this week:
- New COVID-19 case growth is at its lowest level since summer.
- State continues to administer the vaccine to those in phase 1A.
- Met Council leaders have not yet received confirmation of employees who will be in phase 1B.
- New Vaccine Connector tool notifies you when you're eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
- CDC recommends double masking with tightly fitting cloth and medical procedure masks.
Reminders: Stay safe. Mask up, get tested, stay home when you're sick, practice safe hygiene, and stay six feet from those outside your household. Remember that even after the vaccine is available, you should continue following these practices to stay safe.
Read on for more about these updates.
New case growth has slowed
The State of Minnesota announced this week that new COVID-19 case growth is at its lowest level since the summer of 2020. The percentage of positive tests is below the key measure of 5%, and hospital bed use has returned to a more manageable level.
State still working through phase 1A vaccinations
The state of Minnesota is still administering vaccines primarily to individuals in phase 1A categories and is only vaccinating phase 1B groups prioritized by the federal government. As of Tuesday (Feb. 16), 710,305 Minnesotans have received at least one vaccine dose and 264,122 people had completed the vaccine series, meaning they have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated. For up-to-date information on vaccine availability and distribution, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine dashboard.
Right now in Minnesota, you are eligible to get vaccinated if you are a:
- Minnesotan age 65 or older,
- Health care worker,
- Long-term care resident or staff member,
- Pre-kindergarten through Adult Basic and Community Education school staff member, or contracted school staff member, or
- Child care staff member at a licensed and certified child care center or program.
Minnesotans age 65 and older can get vaccinated through the state's community vaccination program, by finding vaccine opportunities on the state's Vaccine Locator map, or via their regular health care provider. Learn more about how each of the other eligible groups can get vaccinated on the Who's Getting Vaccinated page.
Staff who are veterans may be eligible to schedule a vaccine through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Learn more on the Veterans Affairs website.
Vaccine availability for Met Council employees
We have no update at this time regarding vaccine availability for our employees.
State officials are not yet ready to officially begin vaccinating groups identified in phase 1B. Met Council leadership have advocated for our frontline employees, particularly those in transit, wastewater treatment, and housing operations, to be in the 1B group. As soon as we receive confirmation about who will be in phase 1B, we will communicate next steps out to staff, including specific access to the vaccine for Met Council employees.
Sign up for Vaccine Connector
The Minnesota Department of Health has released a new tool that notifies you when you’re eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 Vaccine Connector asks a series of questions about occupation, age, and basic health categories that help determine eligibility. You can provide contact information so the state can notify you when you are eligible to receive the vaccine and help you find the best options for getting vaccinated. The tool includes optional demographic questions that may be used to ensure the state is reaching critical populations affected by the virus. The questionnaire only takes a few minutes to complete.
The tool is available to all Minnesotans age 18 and older. If you are in a phase 1A category and are currently eligible to receive the vaccine, such as educators and seniors, you can use this tool to sign up for the lottery to receive the vaccine, as well.
Stay updated on your eligibility for the vaccine by signing up for the tool online.
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Governor announces plans for in-person learning
Beginning Monday, Feb. 22, all middle and high school students may return to the classroom for hybrid or in-person learning. Gov. Tim Walz also updated the state’s Safe Learning Plan to require all schools to offer their students some form of in-person learning by March 8.
Families who do not feel comfortable sending their students for in-person or hybrid learning may still choose a distance learning option for their student. As always, school leaders are expected to meet with their internal incident command teams and seek input from their school communities to determine the process for providing these options.
Learn more about the Safe Learning Plan on the state's website.
CDC recommends double-masking
As new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus spread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask to provide increased protection.
This follows new research that finds that a mask that fits snugly against your face with at least two layers provides optimal protection. They also recommend tying knots on the ear loops of surgical masks. The new information does not alter the CDC's guidance on who should wear a mask and when.
Double masking isn't recommended for all masks. Don't use two disposable masks as they won't fit tightly together and don’t layer another mask on top of a KN95.
Stay safe and mask up
The executive order mandating that Minnesotans wear a face covering indoors remains in effect, and all Met Council employees, Council members, contractors, vendors, and volunteers are required to wear face coverings per our procedure when in the workplace or public service environment. Note that N95 masks are provided for Met Council employees in specific jobs that require that type of mask.
The governor's executive order and the Met Council's face coverings procedure do not mandate double-masking. We follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health, and at this time the state's recommendation has not changed to advise double-masking.
It is very important we are all following this critical public health practice, and we urge all staff – whether you’re a front-line employee or a manager – to encourage each other to wear a mask and follow the other guidelines like physical distancing, handwashing, and disinfecting work areas.
Please report poor or non-compliance to your supervisor.
Wearing a mask indoors and outdoors is one tool in reducing the spread of COVID-19, and you should continue staying home when you're sick, washing your hands frequently, and staying six feet away from others.
Check the MetNet pages, 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.
For Metro Transit work instructions and daily updates on new COVID-19 cases reported at each worksite, visit the Metro Transit MetNet page. For job aids and facilities updates for Environmental Services related to COVID-19, visit the Environmental Services page.
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 our internal newsletters: Feb. 12 Insights, Feb. 17 ES Update, and Feb. 18 HR Connect.
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. The second table breaks down the positive cases by division for Community Development (CD), Environmental Services (ES), Metro Transit (MT), Metropolitan Transportation Services (MTS), and Regional Administration (RA).
Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis (February 18):
Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis by division (February 18*):
*These division numbers are reported weekly. These tables reflect changes week over week.
 
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