Credit: New Jersey National Guard via Flickr
The Minnesota Department of Health’s COVID Sunday update includes 32 new deaths and 1,181 new cases.
The recently reported deaths bring the state total to 6,095 during the course of the pandemic. Of these deaths, (63.5%) (3,875) were residents of long-term care facilities, including 22 of the 32 reported on Sunday.
Meanwhile, by January 21, the state reported that 247,415 people received at least 1 dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 63,185 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.
B.1.1.7. The coronavirus variant that was first discovered in the UK has been found in Minnesota, with health officials so far confirming five cases of the variant in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but no others have been announced since early January.
Hospitalizations
Hospitalization data is not updated on weekends.
As of January 21, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 543. Of those hospitalized, 104 were in intensive care and 439 were receiving treatment outside the ICU.
Across the state, there were 163 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 1,181 positive results in Sunday’s update were a total of 34,874 tests completed, creating a daily test positivity rate of 3.38%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the Minnesota test positivity rate for the past seven days is 4.66%, 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) 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: 6,367,721 (over 6,332,647)
- People tested: 3,206,509 (above 3,193,783)
- Positive cases: 454,989 (over 453,808)
- Deaths: 6,095 – 231 of which are “probable *” (above 6,063)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 437,827 (out of 436,544)
* 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.