Credit: The National Guard via Flickr
Wednesday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 783 new cases and 10 deaths.
The new reported deaths bring the state total to 6,390 during the pandemic. Of those deaths, 62.8% (4,019) were long-term care residents, including three out of ten reported Wednesday.
As of Feb. 14, the state reported that 695,629 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 246,431 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 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. 16, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 314, the lowest since Sept. 24. Of those hospitalized, 54 had intensive care and 260 received treatment without an ICU.
Statewide, 179 staffed ICU beds 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 783 positive results of Wednesday’s update came from a total of 22,160 completed tests, which created a daily positivity rate of 3.53%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.17%. It is around the same rate as Minnesota in September before an increase in cases raised the rate above 15% in November.
Credit: Johns Hopkins University
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: 7,021,209 (up to 6,999,322)
- Tested people: 3,378,669 (up to 3,373,632)
- People with at least 1 vaccine: 695,629 (up to 686,210)
- People with 2 vaccines: 246,431 (up to 240,027)
- Positive cases: 475,379 (up to 474,621)
- Deaths: 6,390 – 266 of which are “probable *” (up to 6,380)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 462,502 (compared to 461,406)
* Probable deaths are patients who died after testing positive for COVID-19 antigen, which is believed to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.