COVID In Minnesota: 2 More Deaths Reported As State Nears 1 Million Doses Benchmark
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After thousands of Minnesota middle and high school students returned to classrooms on Tuesday, state health officials reported 456 more cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths. Meanwhile, the number of vaccine shots administered in the state is nearing 1 million.
According to the latest update from the Minnesota Department of Health, the cumulative coronavirus case count stands at 474,621 while the state's death toll has reached 6,380. More than 60% of the recorded fatalities have been residents in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Tuesday marks the first time since last March when there was back-to-back days with two or fewer COVID-19 deaths. On Monday, two fatalities were also reported.
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Since December, the state's vaccine rollout has been expanding. Initially, it started with a focus on residents in long-term care and frontline health care workers. It's since broadened to include educators, child care workers and Minnesotans ages 65 and older, who can access the vaccine at local clinics.
As of Sunday, 927,384 shots have been administered in Minnesota, mostly of the Pfizer vaccine. Some 686,210 people (about 12% of the state's population) has received their first dose while 240,027 have gotten the full series.
In the last 24 hours, more than 9,000 COVID-19 tests were processed in Minnesota, suggesting a positivity rate of 4.9%. According to the state's Dial Back Dashboard, Minnesota's rolling seven-day average positivity rate was at 3.9% as of early this month, the lowest it's been since late June.
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While daily case counts, deaths and hospitalizations have trended down over the last several weeks, health experts are fearing a possible spike in cases associated with spring break travel. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm is urging Minnesotans to stay home.
"As tempting as it is, especially with these temperatures, it's still really not a great idea to travel," she said.
Earlier Tuesday, several Minnesota school districts -- including Anoka-Hennepin, the state's largest -- started middle and high school students on a hybrid learning model. As a result, some of these older students returned to the classroom for the first time in months, perhaps since last spring.
Earlier this month, younger students in the Twin Cities returned to in-person learning.