Photo of the United States Marine Corps by Staff Sgt. Jordan E. Gilbert
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) COVID update on Sunday includes 996 new cases and 13 new deaths.
The new deaths reported bring the state total to 6,200 over the pandemic. Of those deaths, 63.4% (3,929) were long-term care residents, including 7 of the 13 reported Sunday.
As of January 29, the state reported that 418,299 people have received at least 1 dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 111,715 people have completed the vaccine doses that are necessary for the full effect of the vaccines.
MDH has a public bulletin board to track the progress of vaccines in Minnesota and you can see it here.
Two new coronavirus variants have been confirmed in Minnesota, including the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. This case involves a Minnesota man who recently traveled to Brazil. There are 8 confirmed cases of variant B.1.1.7. The two new strains are believed to be more transmissible.
Hospitalizations
Hospitalization data is not updated on weekends.
Until January 28. The number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 450. Of those hospitalized, 95 were in intensive care and 355 received treatment that was not used in the ICU.
Across the state, there were 166 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 996 positive results of Sunday’s update came from a total of 30,362 completed tests, which created a daily test positivity rate of 3.28%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.77%, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.
The World Health Organization recommends that to reopen the economy requires a percentage of positive percentages (divided by the total number of tests completed) below 5% for at least two weeks, this 5% threshold is based on the total of positives divided by the total of tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers
- Total tests: 6,576,802 (up to 6,545,968)
- Tested people: 3,264,300 (up to 3,253,030)
- People with at least 1 vaccine: 381,204 as of January 28 (compared to 381,204)
- Positive cases: 461,807 (to 460,819)
- Deaths: 6,200 – 248 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,187)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 446,137 (to 444,782)
* 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.