Credit: Navy Medicine via Flickr
Wednesday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 669 new cases and 24 new deaths.
The recently reported deaths bring the state total to 6,234 during the pandemic. Of those deaths, 63.3% (3,946) were residents of long-term care, including 14 of the 24 reported on Wednesday.
As of Feb. 1, the state reported that 458,651 people received at least one dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while 122,597 people completed both doses of the vaccine that are needed for the full effect of the vaccines.
MDH has a public dashboard to track the progress of the vaccine in Minnesota and you can view it here.
Two new variants of coronavirus have been confirmed in Minnesota, including what was the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. This case involves a Minnesota who recently traveled to Brazil. There are 8 confirmed cases of variant B.1.1.7. Both new strains are thought to be more transmissible.
Hospitalizations
As of February 2, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 379. Of those hospitalized, 77 were in intensive care and 302 were receiving non-ICU treatment.
Statewide, 159 beds were available for the ICU. During the November increase, the state had less than 100 intensive care beds available. The number of beds available depends on the number of staff available, so the total is constantly changing.
Test rates and positivity
The 669 positive results from Wednesday’s update were from a total of 21,408 completed tests, creating a daily test positivity rate of 3.12%.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the test positive rate in Minnesota over the past seven days is 3.61%, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.
The World Health Organization recommends that a positive percentage rate (total positive divided by the total number of completed tests) of less than 5% for at least two weeks be required for the safe reopening of the economy. This 5% threshold is based on the total positives divided by the total tests.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by numbers
- Total tests: 6,628,961 (increasing from 6,607,932)
- Tested persons: 3,276,111 (increasing from 3,271,158)
- People with at least 1 shot vaccine: 458,651 starting February 1 (from 447,610)
- People with 2 vaccines: 122,597 from February 1 (from 116,928)
- Positive cases: 463,766 (increasing from 463,132)
- Deaths: 6,234 – 254 of which are “probable *” (increasing from 6,210)
- Patients who no longer need isolation: 449,707 (of the 448,595)
* Probable deaths are patients who died after a positive test using the COVID-19 antigen test, which is thought to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.