COVID In Minnesota: 632 New COVID Cases, 6 More Deaths
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As cities and institutions statewide are starting to reassess their current policies on face mask requirements, new figures show upward trends for new COVID-19 cases in Minnesota.
On Monday, Minnesota's health department released its latest virus figures showing 632 more cases and six new deaths confirmed in the last 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 613,325 positive cases and 7,674 deaths.
The health department reports that the rolling average positivity rate is now at 3.3%. While that's below the line for caution (at 5%), it's also up notably over recent weeks; early this sumer, that figure hovered around 1%. There are also a reported 6.5 daily new cases per 100,000 Minnesota residents, which puts the state above the line of caution.
Hospitalization figures are also showing significant gains day-over-day. The latest figures of those hospitalized show 68 Minnesotans in ICU, compared to fewer than 20 on July 15. There are an additional 161 reported hospitalizations for COVID in the state. The figures show an average of 3.3 new daily hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, which is below the line of caution for now.
As of Monday morning, the latest figures from the Minnesota Department of Health showed that about 68.8% of Minnesotans 16 or older had received at least one dose, and 91.7% of those 65 or older had received at least one dose. In total, the state has administered 5,905,487 doses of vaccine, and has also reached almost 3 million residents having completed their vaccine series.
On Monday, it was announced that the University of Minnesota is going to require masks starting Tuesday. Because the Delta variant has been spreading as of late and is considered much more easily transmitted, the University says they are requiring masks indoors.