Photo of the US Navy by mass communication specialist, 2nd class 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 recently reported deaths bring the state total to 5,817 during the course of the pandemic, of which 64% (3,716) were resident in long-term care facilities, including 23 of the 43 reported on Thursday.
Minnesota on Saturday night confirmed the first five cases of the UK-based mutant variant of COVID-19, with residents in four Twin Cities counties testing positive for B.1.1.7. variant after falling ill between 16 and 31 December.
No other cases of the new strain have been confirmed, but health officials believe the variant is widely circulating in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the state reported Thursday that 153,332 people received at least 1 dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 15,082 people completed the two doses of the vaccine needed for the full effect of the vaccines. The health department has launched a public panel to track the distribution of vaccines across Minnesota, and you can view it here.
Hospitalizations
As of January 13, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 645, which is the lowest number of COVID admissions reported since October 26 (614).
Of those hospitalized, 131 (against 129 the previous day) were in intensive care and 514 (against 536) were receiving treatment outside the ICU.
Across the state, 140 ICU beds were available. During the November surge, the state had less than 100 ICU beds available. The number of beds available depends on the number of employees available, so the totals change constantly.
Test rates and positivity
The 1,598 positive results in Thursday’s update were a total of 36,678 tests completed, creating a daily test positivity rate of 4.35%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate for the past seven days is 5.94%, which is returning after dropping to less than 5% just a week ago.
The World Health Organization recommends that a percentage rate of positivity (total positives divided by the total of completed tests) of less than 5% for at least two weeks is necessary to reopen the economy safely. This limit of 5% is based on the total of positives divided by the total of tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota in numbers
- Total tests: 6,043,802 (above 6,006,711)
- People tested: 3,112,884 (above 3,104,508)
- Positive cases: 441,935 (over 440,354)
- Deaths: 5,817 – 211 of which are “probable *” (above 5,774)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 420,919 (over 419,139)
* Probable deaths are patients who died after a positive test using the COVID-19 antigen test, which is considered less accurate than the most common PCR test