COVID In Minnesota: 375 New Cases Reported, Positivity Rate At 2.2%
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Friday's updated figures from the Minnesota Department of Health reported 375 additional COVID-19 cases and two deaths, as case numbers rise due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
In all, Minnesota has seen 609,387 cases and 7,650 deaths due to COVID-19 since last March.
While numbers are down significantly since the peaks of the pandemic in the spring and fall of 2020, the positivity rate has doubled since the end of June, when it sat at 1.1%. The positivity rate rose to 2.2% as of last week. Daily new cases per 100,000 residents has risen to 3.7; though still below the line of caution, that figure too has more than doubled since the end of last month.
Health officials say 99% of new cases involve unvaccinated people, and 75% of those new cases are from the Delta variant.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were 123 people in Minnesota hospitals suffering from virus symptoms. Of those people, 34 were in the ICU. Figures show roughly 2.4 hospitalizations per 100,000 Minnesota residents.
RELATED: Data Show State's Conservative Counties Have Lower Vaccination Rates, Reflecting National Trend
At the same time, the state has administered over 5.84 million vaccine shots and roughly 68.1% of Minnesotans 16 and older have received their first dose. The vaccine data dashboard shows that 40% of children between 12 and 15 have received their first dose, while 91% of those 65 and older had gotten their first shot.
According to MDH, nearly 14,000 COVID-19 tests were processed in the last 24 hours, suggesting a daily positivity rate of 2.6%.