Rochester's COVID-19 risk dial drops to 'moderate'

Randy Petersen, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Mar. 9—Rochester's risk dial dropped to "moderate" over the weekend for the first time since mid-October.

The change is expected to create a path for expanding Rochester Public Library services.

"We're starting to plan for when we get to moderate," Library Director Audrey Betcher recently told the city's Library Board.

Betcher has said it will take nearly a week to adapt services to the status change, but the library will move to what's been dubbed a "library-express mode."

Karen Lemke, the library's head of marketing and community engagement, said the library will make an announcement later this week regarding changes in services.

Once implemented, the by-appointment express service is expected to allow visitors a chance to browse and borrow materials, access library computers, ask questions, apply for a library card, and use WiFi.

— When will Rochester's risk dial drop?

— Rochester library pauses plans to open its doors

When the option was initially set to roll out in October, Betcher said customers would be able to book up to 45 minutes at the library to complete their activities, with staff using 15 minutes each hour for cleaning.

The plan was put on hold Oct. 20 and has remained on the shelf since, but Beetcher said work on reopening some services has been discussed with the anticipation of changes with the lowering risk.

Ken Jones, the city's director of emergency management, said last week that the risk dial was on the verge of moving to moderate, but the change would be based on countywide numbers, as well as insights from local, state and national experts.

On Monday, Olmsted County Public Health reported the county has 110 active COVID-19 cases, with 36 new cases reported since Friday morning.

The seven-day average for new cases was 15.3 on March 5, the last day of available data. That's down from 18.7 a week earlier. A moderate reading for the single indicator would require the number to drop to five cases.

Looking at the daily incidence of infection, the county reports 7.2 per 100,000 residents, and a moderate number would be below 6.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate of local testing — 4.7 percent — and the seven-day average for hospitalizations — 8 — have continued to drop since hitting the moderate range before last week

Jones said all the numbers don't need to reach the "moderate" level to move the dial, and since the data is only part of what's used to determine the setting.

"It becomes a little bit of science and a little bit of art," said Jones, who said public health precautions continue to be needed to ensure downward trends continue.

Olmsted County Breakdown

(Updated Monday-Friday by Olmsted County Public Health)

Activity Dials

Weekly Case Counts

Case Demographics

Cluster Investigations

State Breakdown

Minnesota Positive Cases

Minnesota Deaths

Minnesota Hospitalizations