Walz self-quarantines; wrestles with shelter-in-place order
Steve Karnowski | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
FILE - In this April 1, 2019 file photo, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan speak at the state Capitol in St Paul, Minn. Gov. Walz put himself into quarantine Monday, March 23, 2020, after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The announcement followed an Instagram post by Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan late Sunday that her brother died of the disease in Tennessee. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski File)
FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2020 file photo Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., center, gets a kiss from husband John Bessler, upon arriving at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa. Sen. Klobuchar announced Monday, March 23 that her husband has tested positive for the coronavirus.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar File)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addresses the media during news conference, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in St. Paul, Minn., where he gave an update on the state's effort to slow down the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz walks into a news conference in St. Paul, Minn., Monday, March 16, 2020. Walz ordered bars and restaurants across Minnesota to temporarily close to customers who dine in amid fears of coronavirus cases. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP)
Food for the taking and an invitation to leave food is in front of a south Minneapolis home Monday, March 23, 2020 as Minnesotans care for others during the effort to slow down the coronavirus in the state. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
FILE - In this March 5, 2020, file photo, Dr. Deborah Birx, Ambassador and White House coronavirus response coordinator, holds a 3M N95 mask as Vice President Mike Pence visits 3M headquarters in Maplewood, Minn., in a meeting with 3M leaders and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to coordinate response to the COVID-19 virus. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, File)
Kim Lutes left, a registered nurse and others carries boxes of N-95 masks donated by Rich Forstner president at Mavo Systems, Sunday, March 22, 2020 in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota Nurses Association held drives collecting any spare certified N-95 medical masks from people that can be used by healthcare workers to protect themselves during the coronavirus outbreak in their parking lot. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP)
A jogger passes by the Minnehaha Bunny, who someone jokingly added a protective mask during the coronavirus pandemic, Friday, March 2020 in South Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz quarantined himself Monday after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19, but the governor said he's still wrestling with whether to order residents to shelter in place.
Walz said he felt fine with no symptoms but would lead by example and work from home for 14 days as he leads the state's effort to manage the pandemic. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said her husband has been hospitalized with COVID-19, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said her brother died of the disease in Tennessee.
“Before we’re done with this, each and every one of us will be touched by this, probably very personally," Walz said in a conference call with reporters. "The numbers run pretty high ... over the course of this between 40 and 80% of Minnesotans will have become infected with COVID-19.”
Minnesota's confirmed case count shot up to 235 as of Monday, a jump of 66 from Sunday. One person died Saturday but no new deaths have been reported since. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said 12 infected people were hospitalized, including five in intensive care. She stressed that the number of infected Minnesotans is likely much higher.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover within weeks.
S everal other states and countries have issued shelter-in-place orders, including neighboring Wisconsin. Walz said he's still not prepared to take that step but that he “very soon could be.” He said he wants to see more data and modeling showing whether it would make enough of a difference to justify the disruptions that could last for weeks or months.
Walz also said he may have to extend school closures for the rest of the academic year, as Virginia did Monday. He said teachers have "risen to the occasion" with distance and online learning.
Walz signed four executive orders Monday, including measures to suspend evictions; establish a small business emergency loan program; require companies to inventory their personal protective equipment, ventilators and respirators and report the results to the state; and to clarify that a temporary ban on elective surgeries and medical procedures also applies to veterinarians to conserve supplies.
The governor also revised his supplemental budget proposal to add $356 million more toward the state’s COVID-19 fight.
Klobuchar said in a statement that her husband, John Bessler, began feeling sick when she was in Minnesota and he was in Washington, and that he immediately quarantined himself. The former presidential candidate said her husband sought a test and chest X-ray after he began coughing up blood, and that he was checked into a Virginia hospital with “very low oxygen levels, which really haven’t improved.”
Bessler developed pneumonia and was on oxygen but not on a ventilator, Klobuchar said.
Klobuchar said her doctor advised her not to get a test because they have been in different places for the last two weeks.
Flanagan said her brother, Ron Golden, died on Saturday in Tennessee. He had been diagnosed with cancer several weeks ago and his immune system was compromised, she said.
“He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body. THIS is why we must #StayHome,” she wrote in an Instagram post late Sunday.
___
The above story has been corrected to show that Klobuchar's husband is John Bessler, not Besser.
___
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak