COVID In Minnesota: 9 Deaths And 1,449 New Cases Reported; Daily Positivity Rate Continues To Rise
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Minnesota health officials on Friday reported an additional 1,449 cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths.
The update from the Minnesota Department of Health brings the state's cumulative case count to 502,893. Since March of last year, 6,771 Minnesotans have died of the virus.
As of Wednesday, more than 2 million vaccines have been administered state-wide, with over 14% Minnesotans fully inoculated. The vaccine data dashboard says 77.5% of those 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The state reached its goal of vaccinating 70% of seniors weeks ahead of schedule and has now expanded eligibility to include about 1.8 million more Minnesotans with certain health conditions and some essential workers.
In the past few days, the state's seven-day average positivity rate has seen a slight uptick. Though it had hovered around the 3.5% mark for most of February and early March, as of March 10, it has reach 4.2%. Daily new cases per 100,000 residents has also climbed slightly to 16.1, up slightly from the 13.1 cases it had reached in mid-February.
Community spread remains as high as ever, with 44% of new COVID-19 cases not knowing where they contracted the virus.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were 316 people in Minnesota hospitals with the virus, of which 74 were in the ICU. More than 26,578 people have needed hospitalization since the pandemic began.
In the past 24 hours, various labs across the state have processed over 40,000 COVID-19 tests; more than 3.5 million Minnesotans have been tested since last March.
Of those who have contracted the virus, 485,912 no longer need to self-isolate.