US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sarah Ashleman via Flickr
Thursday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health includes 43 new deaths and more than 1,500 new cases.
The state’s total number of recently recorded deaths during the epidemic is 5,817, of which 64% (3,716) were residents of long-term care, with 23 of 43 reported on Thursday.
Minnesota on Saturday evening confirmed the first five cases of the UK mutant variant, with residents of four Twin City counties testing positive of B.1.1.7 as part of COVID-19. Editions after falling ill between December 16–31.
Further cases of new strain have not been confirmed but health officials believe the variant is largely roaming in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the state reported on Thursday that 153,332 people had received at least 1 dose of Pfizer or Modern Vaccine, while 15,082 people had completed both doses of the vaccine, which are required for the full effect of the vaccines. The Department of Health has launched a public dashboard to track vaccine distribution throughout Minnesota, and you can see it here.
admitted to hospital
Through January 13, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 645, the lowest number of reported COVID admissions since October 26 (614).
Hospitalized, 131 (129 from day one) were in intensive care, and 514 (below 536) were receiving non-ICU treatment.
Statewide, there were 140 staff ICU beds available. During November, less than 100 staff ICU beds were available in the state. The number of available beds is dependent on the number of available staff, so totals are constantly changing.
Test and positivity rate
Thursday’s update had 1,598 positive results out of a total of 36,678 completed tests, making daily test positivity a rate of 4.3%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 5.94%, trending back after falling below 5% a week earlier.
The World Health Organization suggests that a positive rate of less than 5% (total positive divided by total positive tests) for at least two weeks is necessary to secure the economy again. That 5% threshold is based on positivity divided by total tests.
By the number of coronaviruses in Minnesota
- Total Testing: 6,043,802 (up from 6,006,711)
- People tested: 3,112,884 (up from 3,104,508)
- Positive Cases: 441,935 (up from 440,354)
- Deaths: 5,817 – 211 of which are “probable” (from 5,774)
- Patients no longer require isolation: 420,919 (up from 419,139)
* Possible deaths are patients who died after testing using the COVID-19 antigen test, which is believed to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.
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