Testing has identified a second COVID-19 case in Minnesota — this time in a Carver County resident who was likely exposed to the coronavirus that causes the illness while traveling in Europe late last month.
The Minnesota Department of Health announced the second case on Sunday evening, just hours after the test result at the state's public health lab. The patient, in the 50-59 age group, is recovering at home after developing symptoms on March 2 and seeking health care on Saturday.
While both positive tests in Minnesota are considered presumptive until they are confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Department's epidemiologists are already launching an investigation to find out who had been in contact with the Carver resident and may now be at risk for infection.
"These presumptive results are considered actionable, which means we are working with the patient and identifying contacts," said State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.
Minnesota's first case was confirmed through testing on Friday and involved a person 65 or older who lives in Ramsey County. That person was likely infected last month while aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which has now been docked off the coast of California because of COVID-19 cases among the passengers and crew. Forty-two Minnesotans are among the 3,500 passengers who have been placed in quarantine on that ship.
Both of Minnesota's first two COVID-19 cases were associated with travel and involved people who were exposed outside of the state. That allows the state Health Department to continue with a containment strategy of working to prevent or slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in Minnesota, said Kris Ehresmann, state infectious disease director. That becomes tougher when the virus is spreading from person to person within a community or state — as has happened in Washington and California.
"Although there are many locations in the United States that have moved to community mitigation, where they are canceling large events, where they are temporarily canceling school … in Minnesota, we are still at the point where we're focusing on containment," Ehresmann said.
A key first step is for the Carver patient to agree to self-isolation at home while still infectious. Carver County Public Health officials will offer support to the individual. Next, health officials must find out who had been in proximity to the individual and might need to be quarantined for 14 days to make sure they aren't infectious as well.
