Minnesota National Guard via Flickr
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) COVID update on Sunday includes 779 new cases and a total of seven deaths.
The recently reported deaths bring the state total to 6,376 during the pandemic. Of those deaths, 62.8% (4,016) were long-term care residents, including two of the seven reported Sunday.
As of Feb. 12, the state reported that 661,187 people have received at least 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 227,551 people have completed the vaccine doses needed for the maximum 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. In this case there is a Minnesota who 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 are not updated over the weekend.
As of Feb. 11, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 326, a slight increase from 320 the day before. Of those hospitalized, 73 were in intensive care (less than 78) and 253 were receiving treatment that was not used in the ICU (up to 242).
Across the state, there were 161 beds available for ICU. 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 779 positive results of Sunday’s update came from a total of 27,155 completed tests, which created a daily positivity rate of 2.86%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.25%, 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: 6,971,879 (up to 6,944,687)
- Tested people: 3,365,599 (up to 3,356,005)
- People with at least 1 vaccine: 661,187 (more than 641,844)
- People with 2 vaccines: 227,551 (up to 209,010)
- Positive cases: 473,567 (up to 472,791)
- Deaths: 6,376 – 265 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,369)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 459,525 (up to 458,492)
* 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.