FAIRMONT — Martin County commissioners received an update Tuesday on COVID-19 cases in the county.

They heard from Emergency Management director Abigail Nesbit, along with Chera Sevcik, executive director of Health and Human Services of Faribault and Martin Counties.

As of Tuesday, Martin County stands at 108 positive cases, down from 111 on Thursday, something Sevcik explained.

“It’s because some people’s addresses were listed for Martin County, which is why they were credited to Martin County,” she said. “Then it was discovered that they had moved and they don’t live here, but they still work here.”

“For Minnesota, we are at a 58 percent recovery rate, which is the highest that we’ve been at so far,” Nesbit noted. “Between Sunday and Monday, 1,200 people recovered and no longer need to be isolated, and that’s been our biggest jump throughout the state. Once the stay-at-home order ends, our numbers are going to jump up again throughout the entire state.”

Sevcik then shared information regarding the outbreak at Fairmont Foods.

“We had a substantial number of positive results from that plant,” she said. “They have been doing a fantastic job of coordinating with local Public Health in ensuring that they have prevention measures in place to help prevent any further outbreaks.

“They are now requiring masks for all of their employees and they have put up physical barriers on the factory line so people have a separation if they can’t maintain a 6-foot distance. They’re doing a very enhanced screening process for everyone who walks in the door. So if anybody is found to have elevated temperature, exhibit signs and symptoms, or becomes ill during the course of their shift, they are sent home for proper testing.

“They did institute having all of their employees tested before they could come back to work. The Minnesota Department of Health wasn’t exactly keen on that process because their standpoint was they weren’t sure what to do with people who were asymptomatic but positive for a COVID-19 test.”

Sevcik also said Public Health and Human Services are working on outreach to make sure Spanish-speaking communities understand the guidelines for isolation in quarantine.

Regarding the ongoing effects of the virus, she did not offer a hopeful outlook.

“I will say that we are nowhere near the end of this,” she said. “We’re looking at a few years, and until a vaccine is available things are going to be substantially changed. We have not nearly reached the peak at this time.”