Credit: Hospital CLINIC via Flickr
Minnesota reported the state’s second COVID-19 death of a child. An update from the Department of Health on Wednesday revealed that a 5-9 year old child in Chippewa County died from the coronavirus disease.
This is the second case of a child dying from COVID-19. The first was reported by the health department in July. No children between the ages of 10 and 18 died of the disease in Minnesota, and only nine people between the ages of 20 and 29 died of disease-related complications, according to disease data.
The child’s identity and hometown were not disclosed, nor is it clear whether the child had underlying health conditions.
Wednesday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) contains 677 new cases and a total of 11 deaths.
The newly reported deaths bring the state to 6,319 in the course of the pandemic. Of the deaths, 63% (3,983) were residents of long-term care, including seven of the 11 reported on Wednesday.
As of February 8, the state reported that 583,602 people had received at least 1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 168,495 people had completed both doses of vaccination required for the maximum effect of the vaccines.
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 what was the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. The case involves a Minnesotan who traveled to Brazil. There are 8 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant. It is believed that both new strains are more transmissible.
Hospitalizations
As of Feb. 9, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 317. Of those admitted to the hospital, 78 were in intensive care and 239 received non-ICU treatment.
Overall, there were 164 crew members available for ICU beds. 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 rates
The 677 positive results in Wednesday’s update were a total of 20,217 completed tests, resulting in a daily test positivity rate of 3.35%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.45%, 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: 6,828,887 (from 6,808,634)
- People tested: 3 327 336 (from 3 322 594)
- People shot with at least 1 vaccination: 583,602 (versus 569,164)
- People with 2 vaccine shots: 168,495 (higher than 162,132)
- Positive cases: 465,905 (from 469,254)
- Deaths: 6,319 – 262 of which “is probably *” (compared to 6,308)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 456,244 (from 455 280)
* 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.