According to Star Tribune, Covid-19 has persistent presence in Minnesota despite the call from the President Biden that “Covid pandemic is over”.

Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, an infectious disease expert, told the Tribune “Biden was premature in declaring that the “pandemic is over,” but that COVID-19 trends are at least encouraging ahead of the winter flu season. There are several COVID-19 cases in his neighborhood right now but fewer severe illnesses and much less pressure at work at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.”

Dr. Drekonja added “We’re certainly way, way better than we were in the past. We’re no longer concerned about having things like a full ICU or oxygen lines that can’t keep up with demand. That’s a thing of the past. It’s rare now that we get someone who actually needs to be on oxygen.”

According the Tribune, the daily reported cases of Covid-19 dropped below 1000. The news agency reports that, despite these positive outlooks, Gov. Tim Walz reportedly warned last week that “an uptick in infections remains possible in Minnesota this fall, though he too said the pandemic is in ‘a much more manageable state‘. COVID is kind of taking on that seasonal rhythm that endemic things like influenza have.”

Dr Drekonja reportedly said “Biden was expressing what most people are thinking, though he probably should have been a bit more careful with his words. It does reflect reality that most people have moved on. And if you are in the vaccinated and boosted camp, you can kind of justifiably move on and say, ‘All right, if I get sick, it will be a nuisance, it probably will not be a severe illness, and I’m fine with that.’ And if you’re the unvaccinated camp, you don’t really believe any of this anyway and so you have already moved on.”