Credit: New Jersey National Guard via Flickr
Friday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) contains 1114 new cases and 28 new deaths.
The newly reported deaths bring the state to 6,168 in the course of the pandemic. Of the deaths, 63.4% (3,911) were residents of long-term care, including 11 of the 28 reported on Friday
The new deaths included two people aged 45-49 in Anoka and Hennepin County.
As of January 27, the state reported that 345,636 people had received at least 1 dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine – an increase of more than 25,000 on a previous day – while 96,842 people had completed both doses of vaccination required for the vaccines. . ‘full effect – an increase of more than 11 500.
MDH has a public dashboard to track vaccine progress in Minnesota, and you can see it here.
Two new variants of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Minnesota, including the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. The case involves a Minnesotan who recently traveled to Brazil. There are 8 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant. Both new strains are apparently more transmissible.
Hospitalizations
As of Jan. 28, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 450. Of those admitted to the hospital, 95 were in intensive care and 355 received non-ICU treatment.
Overall, there were 166 ICU beds available. During the November boom, the state had fewer than 100 ICU beds. The number of available beds depends on the number of available staff, and the total is therefore constantly changing.
Test and positivity figures
The 1114 positive results in Friday’s update were a total of 44,777 completed tests, resulting in a daily test positivity rate of 2.48%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s positivity rate over the past seven days is 4.08%, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.
The World Health Organization recommends that a positive rate percentage (total positive divided by total completed tests) of less than 5% is required for at least two weeks to safely reopen the economy. The 5% threshold is based on total positives divided by total tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by Numbers
- Total tests: 6,513,797 (from 6,467,868)
- People tested: 3 244 005 (on from 3 233 070)
- People shot with at least 1 vaccination: 345,636 from 27 January (compared to 320,347)
- Positive cases: 459,747 (versus 458,633)
- Deaths: 6,168 – 247 of which are “probably *” (versus 6,140)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 443,253 (higher than 442,600)
* Probable deaths are patients who died after testing positive using the COVID-19 antigen test, which is thought to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.