3 things to know
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More than 1.7 million with at least one dose; almost 1.1 million fully vaccinated; seven-day trend at new high
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ICU needs, active cases at the highest levels since January; outbreaks in central, northeastern Minnesota and southwestern suburbs of Twin Cities
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The state makes it a little easier for assisted living residents to go out for April celebrations, play cards and dine together
Updated 11:40 AM
Vaccinations are following the right path. No disease metrics. That’s where Minnesota is now in the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the state’s vaccination rate remains steadily on the rise, new and active cases of COVID-19 are increasing, and intensive care needs are at their highest level in more than two months.
Even though they have loosened the rules to make it a little easier for assisted residents to go out to the April celebrations, play cards and dine together, the authorities remain increasingly concerned about the increasing number of cases linked to the COVID-19 variant of United Kingdom and youth sports.
The Department of Health reported about 66,000 new vaccinations on Friday, pushing the seven-day trend to more than 54,000 daily injections – the highest amount since vaccinations began in late December.
Nearly 1.1 million Minnesota residents are fully inoculated, while more than 1.7 million have received at least one dose, including about 82% of residents aged 65 and over.
But as trend lines move in the right direction for vaccines, they are going in the wrong direction around the disease. The known and active cases, for example, exceeded 16,000 – the highest count since the beginning of January.
Thursday’s data also shows the trend for the state’s positive test rate for a fourth day above 5 percent – a warning sign about a possible increase.
“We are all tired of this virus and the restrictions it brings, but we need to act now,” Dr. Ruth Lynfield, a state epidemiologist, told reporters on Thursday, while pleading with the Minnesotans to maintain social distance and use masks in internal public meeting spaces to control the spread of the disease.
“I feel that we are in a critical moment,” she added.
The good news is that many of the state’s most at-risk residents, including the elderly, have already received at least one dose and Minnesota expects to see its federal vaccine supply shipments increase from April.
The authorities described the current situation, however, as a race against time to vaccinate as many Minnesota residents as possible before the COVID-19 variants could take hold in the state.
They have confirmed nearly 1,000 cases in the UK’s highly contagious strain status in recent weeks and believe it is responsible for most of the spread that is now happening.
Projections by MPR News data reporter David Montgomery
Active cases, ICU needs climbing
Warning lights continue to flash around Minnesota’s COVID-19 disease metrics.
The number of known active cases has been on an upward trend in recent weeks, with 16,151 active cases in Friday’s report – marking 15 consecutive days with active counts over 10,000, a stretch not seen since January.
Although still low compared to late November and early December, the upward trend is notable, given concerns about the increase in the UK’s COVID-19 strain, which state health officials suspect is driving the current increase.
Hospitalization counts are also increasing. The latest data from the Department of Health showed 439 people with COVID-19 in hospitals in Minnesota; 112 needed intensive care – the biggest ICU and hospitalization needs since late January.
Hospitalization rates for people with COVID-19 are also increasing across the state. Dr. Dawn Droder, director of hospital services at Essentia Health in Duluth, Minnesota, says the number of people hospitalized has doubled in the past week or so.
“We are nowhere near where we peaked in November, but we are watching these numbers carefully because they are definitely increasing,” said Droder.
She said that most of her patients with COVID-19 are between 37 and 65 years of age and that many young people with COVID-19 are likely to be transmitting it to older adults.
Four deaths reported on Friday increased the overall number of pandemic deaths in Minnesota to 6,864. Among those who died, about 62% lived in long-term care facilities or health care; most had latent health problems.
The state has recorded 524,203 confirmed or probable total cases so far in the pandemic, including 2,553 published on Friday – the maximum in one day since January 4.
About 96 percent of Minnesota residents known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point that they no longer need to be isolated.
Bubble of regional hot spots
Regionally, all parts of Minnesota are in better shape than they were in late November and early December. The most recent figures, however, show that the cases increased sharply in all age groups, except the oldest, and in almost all regions of the state.
Public health leaders continue to monitor clusters in the Twin Cities metropolitan area in the southwest – specifically in Carver and Scott counties – as well as in the Mankato area and the eastern Iron strip, centered around the city of Aurora. There was also a recent outbreak in Ely, northeast of Aurora.
The Minnesota center is now seeing an increase in positive cases of COVID-19.
There has been a gradual increase in the number of people hospitalized with the virus, said Dr. George Morris, commander of medical incidents at CentraCare, the primary health provider in the St. Cloud area.
“Last month, it went from five to 12 to 18 to 30 and now we have more than 40 patients admitted to our CentraCare facilities – you know, more than 40 patients with probably a third of them in the ICU,” he told MPR Notícias.
As schools, sports and activities have resumed, there has been an increase in the number of cases among young people, which are spreading to older relatives who have not yet been vaccinated.
He estimates that about 40 percent of new cases are variants of COVID-19.
Cases spread across age groups
People in their 20s still make up the age group with the highest number of confirmed cases in the state – more than 97,000 since the start of the pandemic, including more than 51,000 among those aged 20 to 24.
The number of school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 41,000 total cases among those aged 15 to 19 since the start of the pandemic.
With children increasingly returning to school buildings and sports, Minnesota public health officials are asking Minnesota families with children to take the COVID-19 test every two weeks until the end of the school year.
Although young people are less likely to experience the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts fear that they will spread the disease unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations. Those with the coronavirus can pass it on when they have no symptoms.
Number of cases among people of color
In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 hit communities of color disproportionately in cases and deaths. This was especially true for Minnesota residents of Hispanic descent during much of the pandemic.
Even with the count of new cases following well below the peaks of late November, early December, the data shows that Latinos continue to be hit hard.
Mistrust in the government, coupled with deep-seated health and economic disparities, hampered efforts to increase testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear that their personal information could be used for deportation. them.
The authorities recognized that distrust of communities of color has been a problem during the pandemic. They offered some data on vaccines broken down by race and ethnicity that they are regularly updating.
Loosened rules, easier April visits for nursing home residents
State officials on Thursday brought good news to residents of nursing homes and nursing homes. With immediate effect, they can leave their premises for less than 24 hours without having to be quarantined when they return.
This means that, in most circumstances, residents can leave with family and friends without having to be quarantined when they return, if they return within 24 hours and adhere to the COVID-19 protocols, said Kris Ehresmann, director of infectious diseases at COVID-19. state.
The policy is in line with the new federal orientation and, being immediate, means that residents and families can be together on Easter, Easter, Ramadan or other spring celebrations outside the premises
Ehresmann also said on Thursday that, as vaccination rates are high and disease rates have dropped in assisted living facilities, the state is loosening the rules to allow more openness for dinner and socializing.
Residents who are fully vaccinated can dine with other people and participate in activities such as playing cards, being less than 1.80 m away.
The change, she added, does not include Minnesota’s qualified health centers or nursing homes that serve high-risk populations.
COVID-19 in Minnesota
The data in these charts are based on the Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released daily at 11 am You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at Department of Health website.
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