Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Trends look good but new strains worrying

Updated: 16:55 pm

Minnesota’s COVID-19 picture is getting brighter after February. The numbers remain mostly good, and the rate of vaccinations has accelerated over the past few days.

Active COVID-19 cases in Minnesota are 80 percent lower than their end-November. Cases for intensive care are at a low of four months. The percentage of tests positive for the disease has dropped back to levels not seen since early July.

At the same time, some expert experts who are emerging the new strains of the virus here and across the country are starting to warn that the state is not out of the woods yet.

Here is the stream of Minnesota COVID-19 statistics:

• 6187 deaths (19 new)

• 460,819 positive cases (1,087 new), 444,782 discounts on isolation (96 percent)

• 6.5 million tests, 3.3 million Minnesotans tested (about 56 percent of the population)

• 3.3 percent positive test score of seven days (officials find 5 percent or more worrying)

• 6.9 percent of Minnesotans vaccinated with at least one dose

Nineteen newly reported deaths on Saturday raised Minnesota’s toll to 6,187. Among the deceased, about 63 percent lived in long-term care or assistance facilities; most had underlying health problems.

The health department also reported on Saturday that erroneous emails and text messages had been sent to thousands of Minnesotans aged 65 and older who had signed up for the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program. The messages raise doubts about upcoming appointments – but government officials said they were accidentally sent by a salesperson. Find more details here.

The overall positive outlook for COVID statistics is now tempered by concerns about new virus strains arriving in the United States. All three known new COVID-19 variants have now been confirmed in the US, including a case of the Brazilian strain identified in Minnesota this week.

Some experts are concerned about the looming increase in business.

‘These new variants we see, these mutated viruses, are much more contagious and produce much more serious diseases. And I expect the darkest days of this pandemic to take place over the next six to 14 weeks, ”Michael Osterholm, head of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told MPR News on Friday.

Cases spread across age groups, regions

People in their twenties still form the age group with the largest number of confirmed cases in the state – more than 87,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 46,000 among people aged 20 to 24.

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 across all regions of the state towards the end of December, in early January.

Popular places keep popping up in rural provinces relative 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.

Although the number of new cases has eased since the end of November, in early December, the data show that coloreds are still hit the hardest.

The distrust of the government, coupled with deep-rooted health and economic disparities, hampered efforts to promote testing among color communities, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information could be used to deport them.

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 380,000 Minnesotans received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, about 6.9 percent of the state’s population.

The increase in vaccinations is encouraging news in the hope of two 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 keep cases and hospitalizations under pressure, he told reporters, saying ‘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 it 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.

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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 for Biden Transition Coronavirus.

Bloomington schools close classrooms again after bus drivers tested positive for COVID: Just ten days after some students returned 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 would gather for days or weeks and 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 without his part of the accident.

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COVID-19 in Minnesota

The data in these graphs are based on the cumulative totals of Minnesota’s Department of Health released daily at 11 p.m. You can find more information about COVID-19 at Website of the Department of Health.