Anoka Times

An Anoka County resident in their 30s is reportedly in critical condition after testing positive for COVID-19 despite showing no “glaringly apparent” health conditions, according to reports.

It was the third case of the coronavirus in the state but differed from the first two, as they were much older residents who are at home in isolation and recovering, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

In the case of the younger Anoka County resident, the patient was hospitalized and in critical condition, according to Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann.

The exposure likely did not occur in the state of Minnesota and is believed to have been contracted through international travel, Ehresmann told the media last week.

Ehresmann said the patient developed symptoms on Feb. 28 and sought health care on March 3 and March 9. The patient was evaluated and released on March 3 — an action he called appropriate at that point in their illness because that's what their symptoms called for at that time.

“The patient was hospitalized Monday and the specimen tested Tuesday morning came back positive in a test run through the Minnesota Department of Health's Public Health Laboratory,” according to the SC Times. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct additional tests to confirm the results, according to a news release from the department.”

Anoka County Public Health officials as well as a number of additional health care organizations are working together to find anyone else who may be at risk after coming in contact with the patient.

"Certainly there will be some exposures," Ehresmann said, but was also adamant that the individual and their family took "great care to isolate and that makes all the difference in the world for our work and our community."