Credit: US Pacific Fleet via Flickr
Monday’s Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) COVID update includes 564 new cases and three new deaths.
The new deaths reported bring the state total to 6,302 during the pandemic. Of those deaths, 63 percent (3,972) were long-term care residents, including one of three reported Monday.
As of Feb. 6, the state reported that 556,482 people have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 158,763 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. 7, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 330. Of those hospitalized, 80 were in intensive care and 250 were receiving treatment that was not used in the ICU.
Statewide, 176 staffed ICU beds were available. During the November climb, the state had fewer than 100 ICU beds available. The number of beds available depends on the number of staff available, so totals are constantly changing.
Test rates and positivity
The 564 positive results of Monday’s update came from a total of 18,567 completed tests, which created a daily test positivity rate of 3.03%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.53%, 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, this 5% threshold is based on in the total of positives divided by the total of tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers
- Total tests: 6,798,547 (up to 6,780,024)
- Tested people: 3,321,315 (up to 3,314,427)
- People with at least 1 vaccine: 556,482 (to 554,102)
- People with 2 vaccines: 158,763 (up to 156,638)
- Positive cases: 468,682 (up to 468,118)
- Deaths: 6,302 – 261 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,299)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 454,290 (up to 453,225)
* 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.