Photograph of the United States Navy by 2nd Class Mass Communication Specialist Sara Eshleman, via Flickr
Thursday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health includes 43 new deaths and more than 1,500 new cases.
The new reported deaths bring the state’s total to 5,817 over the pandemic, of which 64% (3,716) were long-term care residents, including 23 of the 43 reported Thursday.
On Saturday evening, Minnesota confirmed the first five cases of the UK-based mutant variant of COVID-19, and residents in four Twin Cities counties tested positive for B.1.1.7. varying after falling ill between 16 and 31 December.
No further cases of the new strain have been confirmed, but health officials believe the variant is widely circulating in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the state reported on Thursday that 153,332 people have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 15,082 people have completed the two doses of vaccine that are needed for the full effect of the vaccines. The Department of Health has launched a public bulletin board to track the distribution of vaccines in Minnesota, and you can see it here.
Hospitalizations
As of Jan. 13, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 645, which is the lowest number of admissions per COVID reported since Oct. 26 (614).
Of those hospitalized, 131 (compared to 129 the previous day) were in intensive care and 514 (less than 536) were receiving treatment that did not belong to the ICU.
Across the state, there were 140 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 1,598 positive results of Thursday’s update came from a total of 36,678 completed tests, creating a daily positivity rate of 4.35%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate over the past seven days is 5.94%, which is down again after falling below 5% just over a week ago.
The World Health Organization recommends that a percentage of positive percentages (divided by the total number of tests completed) below 5% be needed for at least two weeks to reopen the economy safely. This 5% threshold is based on the total positives divided by the total tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers
- Total tests: 6,043,802 (compared to 6,006,711)
- Tested people: 3,112,884 (up to 3,104,508)
- Positive cases: 441,935 (up to 440,354)
- Deaths: 5,817 – 211 of which are “probable *” (up to 5,774)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 420,919 (to 419,139)
* 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.