Thursday, April 1
The state has identified 521,667 cases of COVID-19 as of today, with 500,351 of these patients no longer required to be isolated. 6,860 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:
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All Minnesotans 16 and older are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine.
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Plans are in place to offer COVID-19 vaccination at two Met Council facilities sometime in April.
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We are using our emergency notification system, which uses contact information from Employee Self Service, to notify employees of urgent opportunities to get the vaccine.
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Even if you are fully vaccinated (two weeks after your final dose), it is important to follow safety precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19.
- Technology updates are rolling out, including a new antivirus software that requires teleworkers to connect to the Met Council network.
Read on for more about these updates.
All Minnesotans 16 and older now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
Every Minnesotan 16 years of age and older is now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The final eligibility expansion comes as the federal government promised an increased supply of vaccine by April.
The state has directed providers to prioritize vaccine appointments for people most at risk of getting COVID-19, or those who could develop severe illness if infected. This includes older Minnesotans, those with underlying health conditions, and those in frontline jobs. Providers will then have the flexibility to provide available appointments to other eligible Minnesotans.
Vaccine availability for Met Council employees
Though the State of Minnesota has opened up eligibility for everyone to receive the vaccine, vaccine supplies continue to be somewhat limited. The state is still distributing vaccines according to priority designations. As a result, frontline workers, including food processing workers and transit employees, are still receiving priority.
We anticipate that we’ll be able to soon prioritize frontline wastewater employees, followed by other employees.
You will be notified for vaccine availability through the Met Council’s emergency notification system, or directly from the State of Minnesota. These are legitimate communications. Make sure you read and respond to these messages without delay; time is short to make sure vaccine doses are used in the timeframe identified.
These notifications are also unique to you – please do not forward them on to others.
Onsite vaccination likely in April – update your ESS contact information
Plans are in place to offer COVID-19 vaccination at two Met Council facilities sometime in April. As soon as we receive confirmation from the State of Minnesota regarding doses and timing, we will use the Met Council’s emergency notification system to let you know and offer you an opportunity to schedule an appointment. We also use this notification system when partners contact the Met Council letting us know about extra doses they have of the COVID-19 vaccine.
- We will notify you by texting your mobile device, calling you by phone, and sending a message to your email. If you respond that you are available, we will follow up to connect you to the appointment.
- Make sure you carefully read the instructions included in the message and reply to the notification correctly.
- We know scams are contacting people about COVID-19 vaccine opportunities, so please review our information on the senders of the texts, emails, and calls so you recognize our emergency notifications.
- These communications will be unique to you – please do not forward them to others.
- You must respond immediately or we will move on to other employees on the priority list.
The system uses contact information from Employee Self Service (ESS), so it’s very important that your contact information there is up to date.
Review the full information about these notifications in the announcement on MetNet.
Tools to help you find vaccination opportunities
As of Tuesday (March 30), 1,682,545 Minnesotans had received at least one vaccine dose and 1,057,848 people had completed the vaccine series. For up-to-date information on vaccine availability and distribution, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine dashboard.
These are some of the tools you can use to find vaccine appointments:
- All Minnesotans who have not received a vaccine should sign up for the COVID-19 Vaccine Connector to get updates on vaccine opportunities and be entered into the random selection process for the state's Community Vaccination Program sites.
- Minnesotans can also contact their healthcare provider, local pharmacy, or use the Vaccine Locator Map to search for vaccine providers in their area.
- If you have a HealthPartners medical plan, make sure your contact information in your account is up to date. HealthPartners is contacting eligible patients to schedule a vaccination when they have appointments available. Learn more on the HealthPartners COVID-19 site.
- As part of M Health Fairview’s COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Efforts, they are prioritizing communities of color and indigenous communities that have experienced disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 during the pandemic. For an appointment, register through their COVID-19 Vaccine Screener.
Make sure you're reading this weekly all-staff COVID-19 email to get the latest on vaccination opportunities, guidelines, and more.
You do not have to wait for information from the Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector or the Met Council's emergency notification system before getting your shot. If your health care provider contacts you about making an appointment, or if you have another opportunity to get vaccinated, you can and should do that.
For more information about the vaccine and how to find an appointment, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine site.
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Staying vigilant to stop the spread of COVID-19
Millions of Minnesotans are still susceptible to COVID-19 infection and the health impacts that can go with it. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) stresses that we all should continue to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19: wear a mask, stay six feet from others, avoid gatherings, wash your hands often, and stay home if you feel sick or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
At the Met Council, policies on physical distancing, wearing face coverings, and staying home if you experience symptoms have not changed.
It is up to all of us to protect ourselves and others by getting vaccinated and following recommendations to slow the spread of COVID-19. Even if you are fully vaccinated (two weeks after your final dose), it is important to follow precautions. For recommendations on gatherings and quarantine for fully vaccinated people, visit the MDH website.
Reminders: Using COVID-19 Leave for vaccine side effects or school closures
To help prevent misuse of the Met Council’s COVID-19 Leave Policy, here are some reminders for employees and managers on how this leave can and cannot be used related to school closures and the COVID-19 vaccine:
- Employees may use COVID-19 Leave if they have a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine and need to take time off, but only if they have Emergency Sick Pay time available. Employees may not use COVID-19 leave to get a vaccine. If additional leave is necessary, employees can use accrued annual or sick leave.
- COVID-19 Leave may not be used for days on which the school or childcare provider is closed for reasons other than COVID-19. This includes, but is not limited to, holiday breaks (including spring break), in-service days, and other reasons not related to COVID-19.
Read the full details on using the COVID-19 Leave Policy related to the vaccine and school closures in the March 18 all-staff email.
For full information on the policy, review the COVID-19 Leave Policy (updated Jan. 1, 2021) on MetNet.
Technology updates include action required by teleworkers
Two tech updates for Met Council staff are rolling out now: new antivirus software and a new login screen for Microsoft 365.
New antivirus software
The antivirus software used on most Met Council computers changed from McAfee to Windows Defender in late March. All office computers at Met Council sites will receive the update without need for user intervention.
If you are working from home on a Met Council computer, you will need to be connected to VPN and signed into the Met Council network to receive the update. Review the full details and instructions on MetNet.
New Microsoft 365 login screen
Due to some security updates, the Met Council’s login screen for Microsoft 365 is changing. This update is planned to roll out on April 8.
- New process: Staff will no longer be asked to select Met Council or Police Department on the login screen. The new process will be the same for all Met Council employees.
- New look: The new login screen will have a dark blue background for all staff. This will replace the old backgrounds: the faded primary color background for Police Department employees, and the background photo of a waterfall for all other Met Council employees.
If you have any issues with either of these updates, please contact the Service Desk by emailing ServiceDesk@metc.state.mn.us or calling 651-602-1498.
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: March 26 Insights (Transit), March 30 Update (Environmental Services), and April 1 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 (April 1):
Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis by division (April 1*):
*These division numbers are reported weekly. These tables reflect changes week over week.
 
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