The first round of samples analyzed through Mayo Clinic’s coronavirus test have all come back negative, according to one top Clinic official.

Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Lab at Mayo, said Friday that Mayo Clinic Laboratories has received about 200 samples in its first 36 hours of testing for the virus. The results of the first 90 samples show no signs of the virus, he said.

"That's really good news,” said Binnicker, via the Star Tribune. “The virus is here in Minnesota, but the test results suggest it is likely not widespread at this point."

As we reported here Thursday, Mayo researchers have developed a test capable of detecting the virus that causes COVID-19, the novel coronavirus sweeping the globe. Mayo now has the ability to handle 200-300 tests per day, though that number is expected to grow as the Clinic begins offering the test in other parts of the country.

Binnicker emphasized Friday that the goal is not only to expand testing, but to do it in a way that focuses on testing patients who are showing symptoms of the virus. The Clinic has set up a temporary drive-thru site on the northwest part of town to test patients for the virus. (A doctor’s referral is required before entering.)

"We really need to focus on utilizing the testing in a thoughtful way — when a physician has ordered the test and thinks, based on the patient's clinical criteria, that the test is needed,” Binnicker told the newspaper.

Additionally on Friday, Governor Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency and issued guidelines advising Minnesotans to avoid gatherings of over 250 people. He stopped short, however, of closing public schools — a move other Midwest states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois have made.

Here in Olmsted County, local officials held a press conference of their own Friday. They said there is still no evidence of local transmission. The one area individual who had previously tested positive for the virus is believed to have contracted COVID-19 while traveling abroad.

While precautions like avoiding close social interaction are encouraged, Olmsted County Public Health Director Graham Briggs said it remains perfectly fine for low-risk individuals to carry on with their lives.

However, he said that advice could change in the event that a case emerges in which the patient acquired the virus locally.

“That’s when things change a little bit, to us thinking about that higher risk population and others who could get more a serious illness — and really providing stronger recommendations,” said Briggs.

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