Polk County, and likewise, much of northwestern Minnesota is seeing another uptick in COVID-19 cases. Polk County has seen more than 140 new confirmed cases in April.
While not as pronounced as the surge this fall, Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese said they are watching numbers closely. “We have been seeing an uptick continuing into this week,” said Reese. “From April 1-14 we had 87 new cases and this week, we’re having an increase as well. We’re watching that closely, doing case investigation, and reminding people about the little things make a big difference. While we all are tired of COVID, myself included, we appreciate everyone’s contributions so that we can keep the number of cases as low as possible.”
Polk County has also had two recent deaths related to COVID-19. “It’s unfortunate the impact that COVID has had on individuals, and certainly, their families,” said Reese. “We send our condolences to families that have been impacted. We put our heart out to those that are hospitalized and have had a death from COVID. An untimely death is never desired, and we send our thoughts and prayers to those that have been impacted.”
On a positive note, vaccinations are progressing well with two additional pharmacies now offering vaccinations. “We’re excited to be working with all of the vaccine providers,” said Reese. “Polk County has a great partnership – local public health, health care providers, pharmacy providers. In case folks haven’t heard, the Crookston and East Grand Forks pharmacy at Hugo’s is now offering the COVID vaccine. We have a list of all of the vaccine providers across Polk County and we’ve recently added them. Excited to have them providing vaccine.”
The vaccine providers and contact information is below –
- Altru Clinic – Crookston: Visit your MyChart or call 218-281-9100
- Essentia Health – Fosston: Visit your MyChart or call 218-435-1212
- Hugo’s Pharmacy – Crookston and East Grand Forks: Visit healthmartcovidvaccine.com; call 218-281-3174 (Crookston)
- Nord’s Pharmacy – Fosston: Call 218-435-6646
- Palubicki’s Pharmacy – Fosston: Call 218-435-1000
- Polk County Public Health: Visit the Polk County Public Health website or call 218-521-8350
- RiverView Health: Call 218-281-9595
- Sanford Health – East Grand Forks: Visit sanfordhealth.org or call 218733-6800
- Thrifty White – Crookston: Visit thirftywhite.com
Reese added nearly half of Polk County’s vaccine eligible population have received at least one dose of the vaccine. “In Polk County, we have a little over 46 percent of our eligible individuals, 16 and older, have received their first dose,” said Reese. “And a little over 37 percent have completed their series. That’s great news. We’ll keep providing vaccine and providing it to people as their ready. Some people have questions and need more information. We’re encouraging people to reach out to their health care provider or contact public health and we’ll talk through the questions that they have. It’s a very personal choice and we want to make sure that people have the information that they need to make an informed decision.”
The Minnesota Department of Health released its COVID-19 Weekly Report (here) on Thursday. All information is updated through 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21 unless noted. Information on Polk County and the KROX listening area was pulled from the report and is below –
| Polk County | Minnesota | |
| Tests | 37,327 | 8,948,654 |
| Positive Cases | 3,690 | 652,420 |
| State Percent Positive Tests** | 5.6% | 6.5% |
| Case Rate per 10,000 | 1,168 | 1,018 |
| Deaths | 67 | 7,054 |
| No longer require isolation | 3,531 | 538,450 |
| Open Cases | 92 | 106,916 |
**Positive number of tests and positivity calculations include only tests reported by labs that report both positive and negative results. Percent positive is the percent of positive tests from the total number of tests by county of residence.
| Zip Code | City | Population | Cases | Case Rate per 10,000 | New Cases since 4/14 |
| 56517 | Beltrami | 279 | 19 | 681 | 0 |
| 56523 | Climax | 539 | 56 | 1,039 | 2 |
| 56535 | Erskine | 1,363 | 117 | 858 | 3 |
| 56540 | Fertile | 1,962 | 209 | 1,065 | 5 |
| 56542 | Fosston | 2,829 | 232 | 820 | 2 |
| 56556 | McIntosh | 1,160 | 133 | 1,147 | 0 |
| 56568 | Nielsville | 142 | 9 | 634 | NA |
| 56592 | Winger | 516 | 40 | 775 | 2 |
| 56646 | Gully | 355 | 30 | 845 | 1 |
| 56684 | Trail | 282 | 42 | 1,489 | 0 |
| 56716 | Crookston | 9,416 | 1,104 | 1,172 | 26 |
| 56721 | East Grand Forks | 10,096 | 1,391 | 1,378 | 19 |
| 56722 | Euclid | 386 | 59 | 1,528 | 0 |
| 56723 | Fisher | 970 | 116 | 1,196 | 0 |
| 56736 | Mentor | 903 | 76 | 842 | 0 |
| 56750 | Red Lake Falls | 2,539 | 262 | 1,032 | 1 |
| 56713 | Argyle | 1,022 | 106 | 1,037 | 2 |
| 56757 | Stephen | 932 | 92 | 987 | 2 |
| 56762 | Warren | 2,494 | 280 | 1,123 | 4 |
SCHOOL LEARNING MODEL OPTIONS
| Policy Option | 14-day Case Rate per 10,000 |
| All in-person | 0 to less than 10 |
| Elementary in-person/high school hybrid | 10 to less than 20 |
| Both hybrid | 20 to less than 30 |
| Elementary hybrid/high school distance | 30 to less than 50 |
| All Distance | 50 or more |
CASE RATE PER COUNTY
| thru 4/10 | 14-day Case Rate per 10,000 | Increase or (-) Decrease |
| Marshall | 19.17 | 6.39 |
| Norman | 36.59 | 16.77 |
| Polk | 24.37 | 2.53 |
| Red Lake | 19.96 | 7.48 |
