COVID In Minnesota: MDH Reports 4 Virus Deaths, Lowest Daily Death Count Reported Since Late-October

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — As the state eases COVID-19 restrictions for the restaurant industry and youth sports, Minnesota health officials on Monday reported four additional COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily death count seen since late October.

The update from the Minnesota Department of Health also comes with a relatively low daily virus count (980) and daily testing numbers (15,980).

The state is nearing 440,000 reported COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with 34,004 of the cases being discovered among health care workers. Over 417,000 patients who contracted the virus no longer need to isolate themselves.

In hospitals as of Sunday, there are 141 patients with COVID-19 needing intensive care unit (ICU) beds and an additional 545 patients with the virus needing non-ICU beds. Over 22,800 cases of the virus have required hospitalization (4,783 in the ICU).

Monday’s four additional deaths was the lowest daily death count reported by MDH since Oct. 26. The state’s death toll is now at 5,711, with 3,655 of those deaths occurring in long-term or assisted living facilities.

Meanwhile, vaccinations continue to be administered in the state. MDH says 147,645 doses have been administered so far, largely Pfizer’s vaccine. The vaccine administered numbers reflect only what MDH is in charge of, since some vaccines were given to other places to administer. Those numbers are not known at this time.

Kelly Markham, an RN supervisor at Faribault Prison, administered the state’s first COVID-19 vaccination to a medically vulnerable inmate, Edward Anderson, Monday morning. The first medically vulnerable inmates in the state were vaccinated at Faribault Prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 in Faribault, Minn. This is a significant step for Minnesota’s corrections system, which has been ravaged by the virus and is currently battling a class-action lawsuit from the ACLU alleging its widespread failure to safeguard individuals in its custody. More than half of the state’s roughly 7,000 inmates have contracted COVID-19 as of Monday and nine have died of the disease. (credit: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The state’s seven-day rolling average positivity rate is at 7.1% as of Dec. 31, due to data lag. The positivity rate has been increasing since it dipped to below 5% around Christmas.

Over 3 million people have been tested for the virus in Minnesota.

Source: CBS Minnesota