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Minnesotas top coronavirus official met with the states top Republican for the first time Friday afternoon in a Zoom call that could have ramifications for the states COVID response.

The ultimate impact remained unclear of the private meeting between Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, R-Winona. Miller came into the leadership post in September and can wield heavy influence in determining if the Republican controlled Senate will allow Malcolm to keep her job.

Miller described the meeting as productive, and a Malcolm spokesman said the pair discussed a range of COVID-related matters.

Malcolm was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, three years ago. As the pandemic response has become politically polarized, Malcolms tenure or a potential end to it at the hands of Republicans has become a central obstacle to progress in a series of changes to state laws and regulations generally agreed upon by member of both parties.

Those changes include a suite of waivers that would allow flexibility to bring on more staff for hospitals, long term care centers, home health care programs and day care centers. In addition to having the support of Walz, Miller and other elected officials, leaders from those sectors have asked state officials for the changes. Little has happened, though, since Walz proposed them Oct. 6.

Miller and several other top Republicans have declined to say whether they favor sacking Malcolm, whose recommendations throughout the pandemic have generally been in lockstep with public health and infectious disease leaders worldwide. Leading into the meeting, Miller said one of his goals with Malcolm was to relate the concerns of constituents of his and other lawmakers, especially Republicans, whose residents have become increasingly opposed to the top-down feel of edicts from Walz, Malcolm and other leaders.

Miller issued the following statement Friday:

I appreciated the opportunity to meet with Commissioner Malcolm this afternoon. The conversation was productive, and its my hope this will be a starting point for improved collaboration with the Governor and his administration.

A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health released the following statement:

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm shared with Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller an update today on the status of the pandemic in MN and the extraordinary actions the Department of Health is taking to slow the spread of COVID-19, support our significantly strained hospital and long term care systems and make it as easy as possible for Minnesotans to get vaccinated or get their booster shots as quickly as possible. The two also discussed her extensive public health experience and expertise,and the Commissioner talked with the Majority Leader about the importance of working together on a number of legislative items that would help address hospital and long-term care capacity concerns.

Commissioner Malcolm provides all 201 legislators regular briefings on the COVID pandemic and the response and looks forward to continuing to work with the Majority Leader and Legislature to address the current state of the pandemic.

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MN health commissioner and top Republican have productive meeting - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press