COVID In Minnesota: No New Deaths Reported In Last 24 Hours; Positivity Rate Plateaus

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Department of Health on Monday reported 1,191 newly confirmed positive cases but no new deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours, from about 15,617 newly completed tests. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 588,952 positive cases and 7,231 deaths.

The state's rolling average positivity rate is sitting at 5.9%, which is roughly where it's been plateauing for more than a week. Anything above 5% is considered cause for increased caution. The most recent peak in the positivity rate was in early April, at about 7.5%.

Community spread remains high, with 43.3% of cases reported with no known source of exposure. The line of caution is drawn at 20%, and high risk is at 30% or above, where Minnesota has been since late August.

The state has also surpassed 2.1 million residents completing their vaccine series. In total, 60% of Minnesotans 16 or older have received at least one dose, and 88% of those 65 or older have received at least one dose. In total, the state has administered 4,625,195 doses of vaccine.

According to MDH, since the pandemic began, more than 4.1 million Minnesotans have been tested.

The latest figures of those hospitalized show 133 Minnesotans in ICU, down significantly since this time last month, when that figure was closer to 200. The overall figures show an average of 12.4 new daily hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, which is another figure that has been plateauing in recent days. Anything above eight hospitalizations per 100,000 is considered high risk.

New modeling from the Centers for Disease Control projects "a sharp decline in cases" by July, though the CDC noted that if public health guidance is not followed, the country could see "substantial increases in severe COVID-19 outcomes."