SC Minnesota News

Minnesota Rep. Jeremy Munson challenged Gov. Tim Walz's decision to expand the release of COVID-19 patient names and addresses as an invasion of privacy. 

Individuals who have confirmed cases of the coronavirus have their information told to 911 dispatchers in the state as an effort to protect first responders from COVID-19, according to Bring Me the News. Walz signed an executive order recently, which will expand sharing the information between the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and 911 dispatchers and first responders. 

"Today, Gov. Walz unilaterally removed existing protections, safeguarding private health records by releasing the addresses of all patients who test positive for COVID-19 to all first responders," Muson said on Facebook. "This order was not only made unilaterally, completely ignoring the democratic process and legislature, but it creates massive patient data privacy concerns."

Munson said police departments were asking the governor to release this information, but Walz released it without giving the patients protection and without the patients consenting. 

"Yet, even after the legislature responded, Gov. Walz gave an order to release medical records without adequate protections and without patient consent," Muson said on Facebook. "Most issues have multiple sides and many are not simply right or wrong; they are a balance of the rights and interests of multiple groups. This is why one person should not have too much power."

Munson wasn't the only one against the governor's decision to reveal this information. Many constituents expressed displeasure in the executive order on Facebook and asked Munson in comments if this was reason enough to recall Walz. 

One constituent said in a comment, "I think this is something that the people have the right to bring legal against the state and Walz."

But Walz isn't the only one taking steps to protect people from individuals with the virus. 

Similar to Walz, Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said that the names of long-term care centers that have residents or staff with COVID-19 will be listed on her agency's website, according to the StarTribune. 

“With the current level of concern, we believe it is important to balance value with government transparency and sharing information with the public,” Malcolm told the StarTribune. “To that end, we decided to update that approach to share more [information] in long-term care facilities.”

Many health experts have argued that revealing information on COVID-19 patients will help keep senior citizens safe since they are at a higher risk of catching the virus, according to the StarTribune. Experts also said the safety of seniors should take priority over privacy. 

Kristine Sundberg, executive director of Elder Voice Family Advocates, told the StarTribune, “The withholding of this information was eroding trust in our regulators at a critical time, and making this decision will start to rebuild that again."

But Sen. Karin Housley, chairwoman of the Family Care and Aging Committee, said in a statement that withholding information on those who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 can only hurt the community. 

“Withholding this information only brings unnecessary grief and frustration to many Minnesota families,” Housley said in a statement. “In the midst of an unprecedented crisis, transparency has arguably never been more important.”