Credit: Phil Roeder via Flickr
Tuesday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 586 new cases and six new deaths.
The new deaths reported bring the state total to 6,308 throughout the pandemic. Of those deaths, 63 percent (3,977) were long-term care residents, including five of the six reported Tuesday.
As of Feb. 7, the state reported that 569,164 people had received at least 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 162,132 people had 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 it 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
As of Feb. 8, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 321. Of those hospitalized, 74 were in intensive care and 247 were receiving treatment that was not used in the ICU.
Statewide, 177 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 Tuesday’s update correspond to a total of 10,623 completed tests, which created a daily positivity rate of 5.31%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.47%, 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: 6,808,634 (up to 6,798,547)
- Tested people: 3,322,594 (up to 3,321,315)
- People with at least 1 vaccine: 569,164 (up to 556,482)
- People with 2 vaccines: 162,132 (up to 158,763)
- Positive cases: 469,254 (up to 468,682)
- Deaths: 6,308 – 262 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,302)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 455,280 (up to 454,290)
* 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.