Minnesota National Guard via Flickr
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Sunday’s COVID update includes 779 new cases and a total of seven deaths.
The recently reported deaths bring the state total to 6,376 during the course of the pandemic. Of these deaths, 62.8% (4,016) were residents of long-term care facilities, including two of the seven reported on Sunday
As of February 12, the state reported that 661,187 people had received at least 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 227,551 people had completed the two doses of the vaccine necessary 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
Hospitalization data is not updated over the weekend.
As of February 11, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 326 – a slight increase from 320 the day before. Of those hospitalized, 73 were in intensive care (below 78) and 253 were receiving treatment outside the ICU (above 242).
Across the state, there were 161 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 779 positive results in Sunday’s update were a total of 27,155 tests completed, creating a daily test positivity rate of 2.86%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate for the past seven days is 3.25%, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.
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: 6,971,879 (over 6,944,687)
- People tested: 3,365,599 (above 3,356,005)
- People with at least 1 vaccine injection: 661,187 (over 641,844)
- People with 2 vaccines: 227,551 (over 209,010)
- Positive cases: 473,567 (from 472,791)
- Deaths: 6,376 – 265 of which are “probable *” (over 6,369)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 459,525 (over 458,492)
* 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.