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Welcome to The Topline, a weekly roundup of the big numbers driving the Minnesota news cycle, as well as the smaller ones that you might have missed. This week: respiratory viruses skyrocket; algebra for all; magic mushroom use; and illegal northern border crossings.
Respiratory viruses skyrocket
The latest data from the Department of Health shows a surge in hospitalizations for respiratory viruses at the end of 2024, including influenza, COVID-19 and RSV.
Nearly 600 people were hospitalized for the flu in the last week of 2024, the highest number in several years. More than 300 were hospitalized for COVID as well. Health officials are also detecting high levels of the virus in wastewater, which typically precedes an increase in reported infections and hospitalizations.
Influenza hospitalizations are especially high in northwest Minnesota, with the highest rates seen among seniors and children under age 4.
Statewide, fewer than 30% of residents have received an up-to-date influenza vaccine, according to Department of Health data. Less than 20% have the latest COVID vaccine, and about 17% of residents are up-to-date on both.
Nationwide, flu vaccine rates among children have been falling, largely on account of the surge in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s also been a bad year for bacterial pneumonia, which primarily affects younger children.
Minnesota mandated algebra for all 8th graders. Is it helping?
Earlier this month the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit education news outlet, explored changes in Minnesota students’ math proficiency following the passage of a 2006 law requiring all 8th graders to take algebra.
The idea was to ensure that students would be able to take advanced math classes like calculus by senior year, potentially paving the way for achievement in STEM fields requiring a high level of math proficiency.Â
But Hechinger’s analysis of federal data shows it hasn’t panned out that way. About 1.8% of Minnesota students took calculus in 2017, up modestly from 1.25% in 2009. Other states saw larger gains, and Minnesota actually fell in national rankings of calculus enrollment.
An aside: if you’re wondering why the data only go through 2017, it’s because the federal government doesn’t have anything more recent, according to the Hechinger story. That glacial pace of reporting is a major barrier to policymakers trying to improve things, creating lengthy gaps between the implementation of new laws and the availability of data that could show whether the changes are working.
Poison control calls suggest magic mushroom use is rising
Early this month a legislative task force recommended decriminalizing the possession and use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, and further called on legislators to create a state-run program to administer those mushrooms to mental health patients who may benefit from them.
The task force did not recommend taking similar steps for LSD and MDMA — street name: ecstasy — two other drugs whose potential benefits for people with mental illness have also been the subject of recent research.
Some numbers in the task force’s report suggest Minnesotans are increasingly using mushrooms for therapeutic or recreational purposes at home. In 2019, for instance, there were a total of 15 poison control calls for magic mushroom exposure in the state. By 2023, that figure had jumped to 69 calls, a more than fourfold increase.
The numbers mirror nationwide trends at any time when other states are considering changes to the legal status of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Illegal border crossings up in northern Red River Valley
The U.S. Border Patrol says it has seen a modest increase in the number of vehicles attempting to illegally cross the Canadian border near Pembina, along the Minnesota-North Dakota border, according to the Grand Forks Herald.
Many of the people attempting to drive across the border outside of monitored crossings are Romanian citizens, according to the Border Patrol. While the fall and winter have been unusually busy relative to previous years, so far this season the Patrol has not had to take any would-be migrants to the hospital to treat hypothermia.
In 2022, a family of four from India froze to death while attempting to cross the border on foot in January. Two men were recently convicted of human smuggling for their role in the family’s deaths.