Credit: New Jersey National Guard via Flickr
The Minnesota Department of Health’s Sunday COVID update includes 32 new deaths and 1,181 new cases.
The recently reported deaths bring the state total to 6,095 during the pandemic. Of these deaths, (63.5%) (3,875) were long-term care residents, including 22 of the 32 Sundays reported.
Meanwhile, as of Jan. 21, the state reported that 247,415 people have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 63,185 people have completed the vaccine doses needed for the full effect of the vaccines. .
The Department of Health has launched a public bulletin board to track the distribution of vaccines in Minnesota, and you can see it here.
The B.1.1.7. a coronavirus variant found for the first time in the UK was found in Minnesota, so far health officials have confirmed five cases of the variant in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but no more have been announced since early January.
Hospitalizations
Hospitalization data is not updated on weekends.
As of Jan. 21, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 543. Of those hospitalized, 104 were in intensive care and 439 were receiving treatment that did not belong to the ICU.
Across the state, there were 163 staffed ICU beds available. During the November hike, the state had less than 100 staff-intensive beds available. The number of beds available depends on the number of staff available, so totals are constantly changing.
Test rates and positivity
The 1,181 positive results of Sunday’s update came from a total of 34,874 completed tests, which generated a daily positivity rate of 3.38%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 4.66%, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.
The World Health Organization recommends that a percentage of positive percentages (divided by the total number of tests completed) below 5% be needed for at least two weeks to reopen the economy safely. This 5% threshold is based on the total positives divided by the total tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers
- Total tests: 6,367,721 (up to 6,332,647)
- Tested people: 3,206,509 (to 3,193,783)
- Positive cases: 454,989 (up to 453,808)
- Deaths: 6,095 – 231 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,063)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 437,827 (up to 436,544)
* Probable deaths are patients who died after testing positive for the COVID-19 antigen test, which is thought to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.