COVID-19 numbers in Minnesota are still moving in a positive direction as January draws to a close.
If we look at the past week, the average number of new COVID cases reported each day in Minnesota fell below 1,000 for the first time in more than four months on Sunday.
The average number of COVID admissions and hospital deaths also continues to decline, as does the average test positivity rate.
And the number of COVID-19 vaccinations is increasing – the health department reported more than 40,000 doses on Sunday for the second consecutive day. The state has seen an average of more than 30,000 COVID vaccinations per day over the past week.
About 2 percent of Minnesotans – nearly 112,000 people – received both doses to complete their COVID vaccination.
Here is the stream of Minnesota COVID-19 statistics:
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6 200 deaths (13 new)
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461,807 positive cases (996 new); 446,137 discounts on insulation (97 percent)
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6.6 million tests, 3.3 million Minnesotans tested (about 56 percent of the population)
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3.3 percent positive test score of seven days (officials find 5 percent or more worrying)
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7.6 percent of Minnesotans vaccinated with at least one dose
Amid the encouraging signs, the COVID-19 mortality rate in Minnesota continues to rise, reaching 6,200 on Sunday.
And health experts are closely monitoring new coronavirus variants to look for signs of increasing numbers of cases.
Vaccinations in Minnesota continued Sunday, after a technology problem the previous day caused anxiety for some people who enrolled in the state’s 65-and-older vaccination program. A seller has sent erroneous emails and text messages to thousands of Minnesotans, indicating that appointments have been canceled – but government officials have stressed that the vaccinations for pilot program vaccinations are proceeding according to schedule. Find more details here.
Cases spread across age groups, regions
People in their twenties still consist of the age group with the largest number of confirmed cases in the state – nearly 88,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 46,000 among people aged 20 to 24 years.
The number of high school teens confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 35,000 cases since the age of 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.
Although less likely to experience the worst effects of the disease and eventually being admitted to hospital, experts are concerned that young people will spread it to older family members and members of other vulnerable populations.
This is of particular concern because humans may have the coronavirus and can spread COVID-19 if they have no symptoms.
Caseloads tend in all regions of the state towards the end of December, in early January.
Hot spots still remain in rural provinces in proportion to their population.
Cases are still the heaviest among coloreds
In Minnesota and across the state, COVID-19 hit communities of color excessively hard in both cases and deaths. This is especially true for Minnesotans of Spanish descent for much of the pandemic.
Even as the new case is easy from the end of November, in early December, the data show that coloreds are still hit the hardest.
The distrust in the government, coupled with deep-rooted health and economic inequalities, has hampered efforts to promote testing among color communities, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information could be used to deport it.
Similar trends were seen during the pandemic among Minnesota’s natives. In October, the number of indigenous population jumped in proportion to the population.
Vaccination accelerates pace
State leaders were challenged early on to get COVID-19 vaccine shots into the arms quickly, criticizing that the process was too slow at first.
However, the latest figures show the boom in vaccinations that is well underway.
More than 418,000 Minnesotans received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, about 7.6 percent of the state’s population.
The increase in vaccinations is encouraging news in the hope of a few weeks into the pandemic. Yet the demand for vaccines is still better than the supply.
Tim Walz visited a vaccination clinic in Brooklyn Center, Minn., The government, Tim Walz, said the state is able to get a 16 percent increase in vaccines from the federal government, which enables Minnesota officials to plan weeks, not days in advance.
While COVID-19 conditions are now improving and vaccinations are on the rise, ‘this is a golden opportunity’ to limit case studies and hospitalizations, he told reporters, adding: ‘We are starting to win the battle a bit.’
The governor said he is hopeful that most Minnesotans like him, who are not in a priority group for a COVID-19 shot, can get in March or April. “I told my team I wanted it by the first day of the baseball season,” he said Thursday.
The opening of the Minnesota Twins is April 1st. The home opener is on April 8th.
Top headlines
Error sends vaccine wrong messages to thousands of Minnesotans: Thousands of Minnesotans aged 65 and older who signed up for the state’s COVID-19 vaccination trial program received erroneous messages on Saturday – messages that cast doubt on upcoming appointments.
Michael Osterholm on COVID variants – ‘we need to understand what’s coming’: Coronavirus cases are declining and vaccinations are rising. This is good news, right? Yes, but COVID-19 strains that are believed to be more transmissible are warning public health experts about a possible new increase in cases. MPY News presenter Cathy Wurzer spoke with Michael Osterholm, an expert on infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota. He also served on the advisory board of the Biden Transition Coronavirus.
Bloomington schools close classrooms again after bus drivers tested positive for COVID: Just ten days after students were brought back for personal learning, an outbreak of COVID-19 among transportation workers forced Bloomington Public Schools to return to distance education by mid-February. At least eight people in the district’s transportation department were infected.
Through grief, Hmong families tore between honoring the dead and holding loved ones during COVID: In normal times, family members and friends gather for days or weeks, cook side by side and comfort each other as part of the funeral services. But with COVID-19 being devastated by the community, they continue to struggle over how to plan a funeral that will not be as large and lavish as they imagined.
From gold tickets to ‘Hunger Games’: Minnesota’s race to vaccinate educators and child care workers is now in its second week. The launch has successfully gotten thousands of people into its arms, but it is only a fraction of the state’s teaching force. And it was not yet without his part of the accident.
COVID-19 in Minnesota
The data in these graphs are based on the cumulative totals of the Department of Health in Minnesota released daily at 11 p.m. You can find more information about COVID-19 at Website of the Department of Health.
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