Minnesota Lawmakers Discuss COVID-19 Outbreak Costs, Scope
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota lawmakers held their first public hearing on COVID-19 Wednesday.
The hearing focused on the initial cost and the possible scope of an outbreak in Minnesota.
On the federal level, the United States House of Representatives allocated $8 billion Wednesday for the virus.
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The initial ask from the Minnesota Department of Health is an immediate $40 million from taxpayers, but it's clear that is just the beginning -- and the number of cases they are potentially talking about are in the thousands.
State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says the state is getting ready for a potential mass outbreak.
"When we get to the point … when we're seeing hundreds or thousands of cases across the state, then frankly, we are in a resource management situation, where the job is really to make sure that the resources get to the people who most need them," Malcolm said.
The department of health presented an initial request of $40 million in emergency funding, including $4 million for personal protective equipment for health workers and first responders.
Dr. Rahul Koranne, president of the Minnesota Hospital Association, says that 80% of COVID-19 cases will require only home care, but 15% will require hospitalization, and 5% will need to be treated in intensive care units.
Minnesota has a total of 5,000 acute care hospital beds, and 500 intensive care unit beds. And even under normal circumstances, that is not enough.
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"Within this past week, available capacity for adult ICU beds, medical-surgical beds, non-critical monitored beds, and airborne isolation beds fell below 5% on one or more days in the Twin Cities metro," Koranne said.
Minnesota currently has approximately 450 ventilators. The Minnesota Hospital Association stressed that hospitals will need supplemental funding from state government to handle the outbreak, but they did not put a dollar figure on that amount.
Obviously, additional funding will depend on how big a potential outbreak is here. It is clear state agencies are working on forecasting specific needs and worse-case scenarios. And the governor's office has stressed that the public and private sectors are also working together behind the scenes.
