Credit: Navy Medicine via Flickr
Thursday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 1,410 new cases and 17 new deaths.
The new reported deaths bring the state total to 6,251 in the course of the pandemic. Of those deaths, (63.2%) 3,955 were long-term care residents, including 9 of the 17 reported Thursday.
As of Feb. 2, the state reported that 475,200 people have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 128,694 people have completed the vaccine doses that are needed 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 what was 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
As of Feb. 3, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 369. Of those hospitalized, 82 were in intensive care and 287 were receiving treatment that was not used in the ICU.
Across the state, 145 beds with ICUs were 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 1,410 positive results of Thursday’s update came from a total of 50,330 completed tests, which created a daily positivity rate of 2.8%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.48%, 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 (total positives divided by the total number of tests completed) of less than 5% for at least two weeks.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers
- Total tests: 6,679,181 (Until 6,628,961)
- Tested people: 3,288,834 (compared to 3,276,111)
- People with at least 1 vaccine: 475,200 as of February 2 (from 458,651)
- People with 2 vaccines: 128,694 as of February 2 (more than 122,597)
- Positive cases: 465,176 (up to 463,766)
- Deaths: 6,251 – 254 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,234)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 450,383 (up to 449,707)
* 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.