COVID In Minnesota: MDH Reports 82 More Deaths, 4,500+ Additional Cases
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As the country prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations once emergency use is authorized, health officials in Minnesota on Wednesday reported 4,539 more cases and 82 additional deaths. It's the third-highest daily death count recorded in the state so far.
Fifty-one of the 82 additional deaths involved a patient in long-term care or assisted living facilities. While most of the additional deaths involved people 60 years and older, there was a death in St. Louis County involving a person between the age of 45 and 49 years old. In total, 4,109 people have died from the virus, with 2,711 of those deaths being among those in long-term and assisted living.
In hospitals, five people have been admitted to intensive care units (ICU) and nine were admitted to the hospital with the virus on Tuesday. There are nearly 360 people with COVID-19 requiring ICU beds and an additional 1,187 people needing non-ICU beds as of Tuesday.
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The state's total case count now sits at 363,719, with over 320,000 of those who contracted the virus no longer needing to isolate themselves. In the last 24 hours, 39,337 COVID-19 tests were completed. About 2.7 million people have been tested in the state so far.
VACCINE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Gov. Tim Walz says vaccine shipments could arrive in Minnesota as early as next week, with the priority group being the vulnerable and those who care for them. Supplies will be limited. About 180,000 doses are expected by the end of the year.
In England, a warning has been issued after two people had allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, which began rolling out in the country Tuesday. England's National Health Service said Wednesday that people "with a history of significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food" should not be given the COVID-19 vaccine, developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech.
PUBLIC HEALTH RISK MEASURES
According to MDH data, the state's seven-day rolling average positivity rate is at about 13.1% as of Nov. 30, due to data lag. That's up from 10.7% recorded on Nov. 25. The state's highest positivity rate so far -- 15.5% -- was recorded on both Nov. 10 and April 29.
Another health indicator of importance to health officials is daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The state remains in the "high risk" category with 87.3 daily new cases per 100,000 as of Nov. 30, again due to data lag. That's down from 123.3 recorded on Nov. 11.
Health officials continue to say the full effects of holiday travel during Thanksgiving have yet to be seen.
