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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Health officials on Tuesday reported 1,690 cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths, as the Delta variant continues to spread across Minnesota.
Since last week, Minnesota’s COVID-19 positivity rate has reached 4.9%, approaching the 5% “caution” threshold. It has been more than three months since the positivity rate exceeded 5%, and the figure bottomed out at 1.1% at the end of June.
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Daily new cases per 100,000 inhabitants have moved to the “high risk” category and hospitalizations are also on the rise. As of Monday afternoon, there were 333 people in Minnesota hospitals with COVID-19, including 92 in intensive care.
Health officials point out that while groundbreaking cases are possible, the most effective method of protecting yourself against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated.
More than 3 million Minnesotans have completed the vaccine series so far, and 69.8% of those 16 and over have received at least one dose. Almost 90% of people aged 65 and over are fully vaccinated, while 45% of 12 to 15 year olds have received their first goat.
The Minnesota Department of Health updated its website on Tuesday to add data on the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine. A groundbreaking case is identified as when a person “is positive 14 days or more after their last dose of vaccine, and the person has not already tested positive for COVID-19”.
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As of mid-July, MDH had recorded 5,599 breakthrough cases, representing less than 0.2% of those fully vaccinated in Minnesota. The dashboard also shows that 514 breakthrough cases were hospitalized and 57 died. MDH points out that hospitalizations and deaths among vaccinees are rare, as 0.02% of fully vaccinated people were hospitalized and 0.002% died.
As the new school year approaches, schools are debating masking policies for students and staff. Minneapolis Public Schools approved the masking requirement last week, while the St. Paul School Board will meet on Tuesday to decide on the term. The Waconia school board decided to keep the masks optional after parents voiced concerns on both sides of the debate in a crowded meeting on Monday evening.
Earlier Monday, the University of Minnesota announced that it would require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as the vaccine receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Earlier, the school had said it would not need vaccines, as a survey found that many students were already vaccinated.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Minnesota Department of Health has counted 620,591 cases of COVID-19 and 7,705 deaths.
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