Latest news on COVID-19 in Minnesota: Active cases jump back above 1K; deaths remain low

3 things to know

• Minnesota sees slight increase in COVID-19 cases

• Active cases surpass 1,000 for first time in weeks

• COVID-19 deaths tend to drop to early pandemic levels

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Updated at 11:43 am

A slow and steady trickle of new COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks has pushed Minnesota’s known active case count above 1,000 for the first time in nearly three weeks. Still, there is no sign of the recovery seen in Minnesota in April.

Hospitalizations remain at around 100 and the state has averaged less than four deaths per day in the last week of reporting, up to levels not seen since the early weeks of the pandemic.

The pace of COVID vaccinations remains slow, and Governor Tim Walz last week announced a further shift from large-scale vaccination sites to smaller-scale, more focused efforts. Walz said the state plans to shut down all but one of its COVID-19 mass vaccination sites by August 7.

Metrics near pandemic lows

Known and active cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota reached 1,012 in Monday’s report, ending a nearly three-week streak with a count below 1,000.

The seven-day trend for those active cases remains below 1,000, and the number has declined significantly since May 1, when Minnesota had more than 15,000 active cases.

As of Friday, there were 102 people in Minnesota hospitals with COVID-19; 23 needed intensive care. These numbers have remained relatively stable in recent weeks.

Two newly reported deaths on Monday brought the Minnesota pandemic toll to 7,624. Of those who died, about 59% were living in long-term care facilities or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems.

The state has recorded a total of 606,484 confirmed or probable cases in the pandemic, including the 189 released on Monday.

About 99% of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 have recovered to the point where they no longer need to self-isolate.

Regionally, all parts of Minnesota are in good shape, near record lows.

People in their 20s are still the age group with the most confirmed cases in the state – more than 112,000 since the start of the pandemic.

While young people are less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up in hospital, experts fear it could unknowingly spread to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.

The pace of vaccination is ramping up

About 3 million residents aged 16 and over now have at least one dose of the vaccine.

More than 2.8 million people are fully vaccinated as of Thursday, according to the most recent data available. This represents about 64.4% of the state’s population aged 16 and over fully vaccinated and 67.4% with at least one injection, including 91% of those aged 65 and over.

Add over 111,000 children ages 12 to 15 with at least one dose, and Minnesota is over 3 million with one or more injections. About 53 percent of the state’s total population are now fully immunized.

While Minnesota’s vaccination rate recently showed a slight increase, the pace has dropped significantly from the April peak and continues to grow painfully.

At the current rate, it looks like it’ll be late August or early September before Minnesota has 70 percent of residents 16 and older with at least one dose of the vaccine – a goal officials were hoping to achieve by July 1. .

Minnesota also sees large regional variations in immunization rates, with most counties outside the Twin Cities region still below 70% of adults vaccinated.

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COVID-19 in Minnesota

The data in these charts is based on cumulative totals from the Minnesota Department of Health released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at the Ministry of Health website.