The COVID-19 pandemic does not care what type of facility a manager is responsible for. It challenges all facilities. Managers in K-12 schools continue to deal with swings in the levels of occupancy, while those in commercial office buildings have to address ongoing challenges related to social distancing measures.

In the nation’s hospitals and health care facilities, the issues facing managers tend to be much more immediate and potentially dangerous. Hospitals in one Midwestern state are finding that out daily, especially as the number of cases continues to surge nationwide.

COVID-19 is sweeping across Minnesota at an unprecedented pace, breaking records for new cases and daily deaths and raising concerns over the ability of hospitals to keep up, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

One recent daily tally of 4,647 new cases wasn’t even close to the biggest single-day count of the past week. For a recent seven-day period, Minnesota reported more than 25,000 new COVID-19 cases, or more than 10 percent of the state's cases since March.

The Minnesota Department of Health reported another 34 deaths recently, bringing the week's total to 168, which is the second highest one-week count since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, hospitals are scrambling to treat more COVID-19 patients even as the virus threatens to sideline more health care workers.

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