Latest news on COVID-19 in MN: Daily deaths remain low as new cases increase

3 things to know

• New active COVID-19 cases on the rise

• Deaths trending close to early pandemic levels

• 16 years and over with at least one vaccine injection: 67.7%

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Updated at 11:58 a.m.

Minnesota is seeing the number of COVID-19 increase, although there is no sign to suggest the state is heading for another increase as it saw in mid-April. Yes, new daily cases are on the rise, but key metrics continue to hover at relatively low levels.

Hospital needs remain roughly stable. The state averaged about two deaths per day during the last week of reporting, a level not seen since the early weeks of the pandemic.

Concerns persist. Cases are on the rise among black Minnesotans, who have a much lower vaccination rate than whites or Minnesotans of Asian descent.

Officials are also concerned about the growth of the delta variant of COVID-19 among the state’s unvaccinated population. Some 1.4 million Minnesotans aged 16 and over still have not received at least a first dose.

However, general conditions remain much better than in mid-April.

More Minnesotans are now vaccinated – including 9 in 10 residents aged 65 and over – and the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive was on average around 1% in the last week of reporting, well below 5% that officials find worrying.

Figures increase but remain close to pandemic lows

Known and active cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota reached 1,256 in Thursday’s report. The seven-day trend exceeded 1,000 for the first time in three weeks. Still, counts have dropped dramatically since May 1, when Minnesota had more than 15,000 active cases.

Ninety patients are in Minnesota hospitals with COVID-19, including 19 in intensive care. These numbers have remained relatively stable over the past few weeks.

Given the recent increase in the number of cases, this could increase. Yet the current number of hospitalizations is at its lowest point since the Ministry of Health began reporting the data over a year ago.

Two newly reported deaths on Thursday brought the Minnesota pandemic toll to 7,632. 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 607,278 confirmed or probable cases in the pandemic, including the 216 released on Thursday. About 99% of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 have recovered to the point where they no longer need to isolate themselves.

Regionally, the number of cases is on the rise in southeast and east-central Minnesota, as well as in the Twin Cities area. Conditions, however, remain much better than during the mid-April wave and the huge late fall wave.

People in their 20s are 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 creeping

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

More than 2.8 million are fully immunized. This represents about 64.7% of the state’s population aged 16 and over fully vaccinated and 67.7% with at least one injection, including 91% of those aged 65 and over.

Add over 113,000 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 is 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 stumble.

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 vaccination rates, with most counties outside the Twin Cities region still below 70% of adults vaccinated.

Editor’s Note: With the pandemic largely under control, we will be ending our daily article “Latest news on COVID-19 in MN” on Saturday. In its place, we’ll write a weekly recap story that we’ll post on Friday. You will always be able to find updated graphs and data on our COVID-19 Stories Collection Page. And you can count on us to continue to cover the pandemic.

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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 Ministry of Health website.