Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.  

COVID-19 update – June 24

Thursday, June 24 The state has identified 604,879 cases of COVID-19 as of today, with 596,388 of these patients no longer required to be isolated. 7,561 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.

At a glance

What you need to know this week:

• Today Met Council leadership released the updated Pandemic Preparedness Plan, the framework for guidance related to our COVID-19 pandemic response.
• The Met Council no longer requires employees and visitors to wear face coverings, practice physical distancing, or participate in temperature screening at our facilities.
• The FAQ pages on MetNet will be updated with more specific information in the coming weeks.

Read on for more about these updates.

Workplace preparedness plan updated

Met Council management continues to monitor the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our operations and workforce. The Incident Command and Planning teams have updated our COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness Plan, which acts as a framework for workplace and workforce planning during the pandemic. This update includes high-level guidance to support our onsite employees and our teleworking employees, who are slowly beginning to transition back in phases to an office setting.

Review the updated Pandemic Preparedness Plan on the Emergency Policies and Procedures page on MetNet.

To reflect the new high-level guidance in this plan, the FAQ pages on MetNet will be updated with more specific information in the coming weeks.

For Metro Transit COVID-19 work instructions, visit the Metro Transit MetNet page. For job aids and facilities updates for Environmental Services related to COVID-19, visit the Environmental Services page.

Masks, physical distancing, and temperature screening not required onsite

The Met Council will no longer require employees and visitors to wear face coverings, practice physical distancing, or participate in temperature screening at our facilities.

Masks are optional

You may continue to wear a mask if you choose to. In addition, to protect yourself, you are encouraged to continue to wear a mask if you are unvaccinated, cannot be vaccinated, have people in your home who cannot be vaccinated, or otherwise you or members of your household are at risk.

Bus and rail operators will continue to adhere to the public transportation mask requirement from the federal government through Sept. 13.

Remember, when interacting with others, you should not assume anything about their vaccination status or health situation based on whether or not they are wearing a mask. Employees, customers, or visitors who arrive onsite wearing face coverings should be treated with respect.

Employees should never ask their co-workers about private, personal medical information, including their COVID-19 vaccination status. Be considerate and respect individual privacy.

Symptom screening and contact tracing will continue

Any employees, customers, or visitors to Met Council locations who appear to have symptoms of COVID-19 will be told to come back another day and be advised to seek medical attention. 

Met Council divisions will continue to implement contact tracing protocols to help ensure that employees and staff who are at risk of contracting COVID-19 can properly isolate to prevent the spread within workplaces.

Workplace cleaning and ventilation practices will continue

Regular housekeeping practices to disinfect the workplace will continue, and facilities staff will continue to evaluate the safety of the air circulation and ventilation systems to ensure that each individual space meets guidance related to the operation of these facilities.

Continue safe practices onsite

It’s important to recognize that these requirements being lifted does not mean the pandemic is over. Everyone should continue these safety and health practices when onsite to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Stay home if you’re sick.
• Get tested if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or think you may have been exposed to COVID-19. Stay home if you tested positive for COVID-19.
• Wash your hands often.
• Clean your work space frequently.

Recommendations for those unvaccinated or at risk

While not required at this time, the following practices are recommended for those who are unvaccinated or otherwise at risk:

• Identify opportunities to get vaccinated. Ask your manager about opportunities to get vaccinated and policies regarding the use of leave to recover from any side effects.
• Properly wear a face covering over your nose and mouth.
• Stay far enough away from other people so that you are not breathing in particles produced by them – generally at least 6 feet (about two arm lengths). Perform work tasks, hold meetings, and take breaks outdoors when possible.
• Practice good personal hygiene and wash your hands often. Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, or the inside of your elbow, when you cough or sneeze, and do not spit.
• Monitor your health daily, and be alert for COVID-19 symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, shortness of breath).

Tools to help you find vaccination opportunities

As of Tuesday (June 22), 3,036,133 Minnesotans had received at least one vaccine dose and 2,840,671 people had completed the vaccine series. For up-to-date information on vaccine availability and distribution, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine dashboard.   Our progress so far – and our path forward – relies on Minnesotans getting the vaccine. The vaccines are free, safe, and effective, and all Minnesotans age 12 and over can get one right now. Many sites are now offering walk-in appointments.   Check out these tools to find vaccine appointments: Schedule an appointment at one of the state's Community Vaccination Program sites. Sign up for the COVID-19 Vaccine Connector to directly schedule an appointment or get updates on vaccine opportunities. Use the Vaccine Locator Map to search for vaccine providers in your area. Schedule an appointment on the HealthPartners COVID-19 site or the M Health Fairview COVID-19 site. Go to CDC: VaccineFinder to schedule an appointment for a vaccine at a pharmacy near you. Make sure you're reading this regular all-staff COVID-19 email to get the latest on vaccination opportunities, guidelines, and more. For more information about the vaccine and how to find an appointment, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine site.   Important reminders related to the vaccine: For the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to last longer and be most effective against variants, two shots are required. If you’ve missed your second dose for any reason, get it as soon as possible. It takes at least two weeks from the final vaccine dose to develop immunity. Even after you are fully vaccinated, you should continue to follow safety recommendations by public health officials and get tested if you are showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Continue testing to stop the spread of COVID-19

Anyone who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should immediately contact their health care provider and seek testing, regardless of their vaccination status. How to get a COVID-19 test:

• Walk in or schedule an appointment for a free test at one of the state’s COVID-19 Community Testing Sites across Minnesota.
• Order a free test through the state’s COVID-19 Test at Home program.
• If you have a HealthPartners medical plan, visit their website for testing information.

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:

• Insights (Transit): June 11 and June 18
• The Wire: June 15
• HR Connect: June 17 and June 24
• ES Update: June 22

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:

• Employee FAQ: June 24 (PDF)
• Manager FAQ: June 24 (PDF)

We will update the FAQ pages on MetNet in the coming weeks to reflect updated guidance related to face coverings, work travel, returning teleworkers to onsite work, and more.

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:

Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis by division:

These division numbers are reported by Human Resources weekly. This table reflects changes since the last update email.