Credit: Guarda Nacional via Flickr
Wednesday’s Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) COVID update includes 783 new cases and 10 deaths.
The recently reported deaths bring the state total to 6,390 during the course of the pandemic. Of those deaths, 62.8% (4,019) were resident in long-term care facilities, including three out of 10 reported on Wednesday.
As of February 14, the state reported that 695,629 people had received at least 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 246,431 people had completed the two doses of the vaccine needed for the maximum effect of the vaccines.
MDH has a public panel to monitor the progress of the vaccine in Minnesota, and you can view it here.
Two new variants of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Minnesota, including one that was the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. This case involves a Minnesotan 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 February 16, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 314 – the lowest since September 24. Of these hospitalized, 54 were in intensive care and 260 were receiving treatment outside the ICU.
Across the state, there were 179 ICU beds 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 783 positive results in Wednesday’s update were a total of 22,160 tests completed, creating a daily test positivity rate of 3.53%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate for the past seven days is 3.17%. It is almost the same rate that Minnesota had in September, before a sudden increase in cases raised the rate to more than 15% in November.
Credit: Johns Hopkins University
The World Health Organization recommends that a percentage rate of positivity (total positives divided by the total of completed tests) below 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: 7,021,209 (over 6,999,322)
- People tested: 3,378,669 (from 3,373,632)
- People with at least 1 vaccine injection: 695,629 (over 686,210)
- People with 2 vaccines: 246,431 (out of 240,027)
- Positive cases: 475,379 (out of 474,621)
- Deaths: 6,390 – 266 of which are “probable *” (over 6,380)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 462,502 (above 461,406)
* 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.