3 things to know:
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Stable positive trends in active case counts, hospitalizations
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Daily vaccination trend still stable week after week
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Governor Tim Walz loosens restrictions on restaurants and weddings
Updated at 12:00
The latest COVID-19 data from Minnesota continues to offer many reasons to be encouraged about the path of the pandemic. The main trend lines around the disease remain in the right direction – down.
Hospitalization counts, for example, remain stable at late September / early October levels, with 326 Minnesota residents hospitalized on Thursday and 73 in need of intensive care. New hospital admissions remain low compared to the increase in late November and early December.
The number of known and active cases has exceeded 8,000 cases, but the trend line remains at levels not seen since the end of September. The new reported cases were modest 1,058.
The general rate of vaccination is still stable after dropping after a sudden increase in late January. The state reported more than 31,000 new vaccinations on Friday, down from the previous Friday. With the increase in federal vaccine shipments, this could be a lull before a recovery.
Friday’s data came minutes after Governor Tim Walz approved the increase in the number of people allowed inside restaurants and at weddings and other private meetings, as the pandemic picture improves and vaccines appear in the right direction.
About 11.1 percent of Minnesotans had received at least one dose by Wednesday, with about 3.4 percent fully vaccinated. About 30 percent of Minnesotans aged 65 and over have already been vaccinated.
Authorities have emphasized in recent weeks that the relatively low flow of vaccine supplies from the federal government is the main problem in halting the pace of vaccinations. There is data to back this up.
The state, however, fell to 29th place among states in doses administered by 100,000 people, according to data collected by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the hope of speeding up the effort, the Department of Health opened mass vaccination sites in Twin Cities, Rochester and Duluth and posted information on its online vaccine locator.
Nineteen deaths reported on Thursday increased the death toll from Minnesota to 6,362. Among those who died, about 63 percent lived in long-term care facilities or care facilities; most had latent health problems.
The state recorded 471,851 in total confirmed or probable cases in the pandemic. About 97 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.
State officials continue to warn that promising trends are still tenuous, looking at new strains of viruses arriving in the United States, including two cases of the Brazilian strain and 18 of the UK variant in Minnesota.
Cases spread across age groups, regions
People in their 20s still make up the age group with the highest number of confirmed cases in the state – more than 89,000 since the start of the pandemic, including more than 47,000 among people between the ages of 20 and 24.
The number of school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 36,000 cases in total between 15 and 19 years since the pandemic began.
Although they are less likely to experience the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts fear that young people and young adults may spread the disease unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.
People can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 when they have no symptoms.
Cases are decreasing in all regions of the state after a blip in late December, early January.
The number of cases is even heavier 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 number of new cases dropping since the peak of late November, early December, data show that Latinos continue to be hit hard.
Mistrust in the government, along with deep-seated health and economic disparities, has hampered efforts to increase testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear that their personal information could be used to deport them.
Health commissioner Jan Malcolm also acknowledged on Thursday the need to ensure that vaccination opportunities are equitably distributed.
Malcolm said the state will soon release data on vaccination, race and ethnicity. Officials say they are trying to improve the quality of the data. By state law, it was shared voluntarily and, therefore, may be inconsistent.
‘We are in a better place now’
Malcolm and state director of infectious diseases, Kris Ehresmann, spent much of the pandemic warning people that the pandemic is not over and could quickly worsen if Minnesota residents are not vigilant.
On Thursday, however, even they said the current situation looks quite decent.
For example, the seven-day average of COVID-19 tests that tested positive – a key indicator of whether the disease is spreading out of control – dropped to less than 3 percent, around where it was at the end of June. The authorities consider 5% or more worrying.
“We are in a better place now than we have been for a while,” Kris Ehresmann, the state’s director of infectious diseases, told reporters on Thursday in a surprisingly optimistic assessment.
She and Malcolm were quick to point out that strains of the virus in Brazil and the United Kingdom remain worrying. Ehresmann said it is still important to wear masks in public spaces, to distance yourself socially and to be vigilant against the spread of the virus and its variants.
She also warned against unnecessary travel now, despite the sub-zero weather and the desire of some miners to head south.
Other than that, they may have been more positive than in recent months about Minnesota’s location in the pandemic arc. Said Ehresmann: “We are closer than ever to the end.”
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.
Top headlines
Governor Walz must reduce the limits on guests at private meetings: People planning wedding receptions and other group celebrations are likely to receive positive news on Friday, when Governor Tim Walz is expected to increase his limit from 10 to 50 people who can attend private indoor meetings.
Minnesota lawmakers are fighting what follows the COVID-19 eviction rule: A pandemic-related executive order has suspended most tenant evictions, but Minnesota lawmakers are beginning to decide what will be put in their place and how to prevent an increase in evictions.
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