COVID In Minnesota: 3,805 New Cases Reported As Positivity Rate Dips To 10.2%
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Health officials in Minnesota reported 3,805 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, along with 39 more deaths.
The latest figures from the Minnesota Department of Health bring the total number of cases to 975,447, including 11,771 reinfections. Since March of 2020, 10,057 people have died of the virus; roughly half of the victims lived in long-term care or assisted living facilities.
The seven-day average positivity rate has been falling for the past few days, and stands at 10.2% as of Dec. 8. However, any figure above 10% is considered "high risk." The state is also seeing 68.3 new cases per 100,000 residents, which has fallen from 86.1 reported earlier this month.
Still, doctors are sounding the alarm as hospitals reach capacity and patients with serious illnesses are not able to get the care they need. Health care workers from around the state gathered on Wednesday to share stories about what it's like to work in hospitals during the pandemic.
"If you get in a car accident today, if you have a heart attack, if you have a stroke today, we may not be able to help you," said Dr. Alice Mann, of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 1,583 people in Minnesota hospitals with COVID-19, 369 of whom were in the ICU.
Staffed adult ICU bed availability is in the single digits throughout the state, and central Minnesota does not have any staffed pediatric beds available.
Meanwhile, 8,369,482 vaccine doses have been administered in Minnesota, and 71.1% of the state's eligible population has received at least one dose. Roughly 28% of children between ages 5 and 11 have gotten their first dose, 62% of 12- to 15-year-olds have had one shot. State data shows that over 1.4 million booster doses have been administered.
On Wednesday, the U.S. confirmed 800,000 deaths from COVID-19, and an analysis showed that an estimated 163,000 deaths could have been prevented by vaccination.