COVID In Minnesota: Rolling Average Positivity Rate Falls Below 5%; 1,335 New Cases, 16 New Deaths
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- On Thursday, as thousands of Minnesota's educators and child care providers were expected to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Minnesota Department of Health reported 1,335 more cases of the virus, and 16 more deaths. One of the new deaths was someone in their late 30s from Hennepin County.
However, the state's latest figures show a rolling seven-day average positivity rate is at 4.9% as of Jan. 19, due to data lag; that's considered to be below the threshold for caution, according to the health department. Aside from a few days near Christmas, this is the first time that figure has been below 5% since mid-September.
The new hospitalizations rate per 100,000 residents is also down to 10.7%, which is as low as it's been since mid-October.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, there have been 458,633 total cases confirmed in Minnesota since the start of the pandemic.
The state's death toll is now 6,140. About 63.5% of the deaths have occurred in long-term care or assisted living facilities.
The health department reports 47,725 COVID-19 tests were processed in the last 24 hours, suggesting a daily positivity rate of 2.7%. Over 3.2 million people have taken a test in Minnesota.
As of Jan. 22, there have been 407,063 doses of the COVID vaccine distributed in the state; 85,217 people have completed the vaccine series. About two-thirds of the doses have been the Pfizer vaccine, with the other third being the one developed by Moderna.
About 442,600 people who contracted the virus have recovered and no longer need to quarantine.
Over 24,000 people have needed hospitalization for the virus since the pandemic began. As of Jan. 26, there are 97 patients with COVID-19 needing intensive care unit beds and an additional 380 patients needing non-ICU beds.
The Roy Wilkins Auditorium in downtown St. Paul is now a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic, ready to start inoculating teachers and child care workers starting Thursday at noon.
The clinic will run through Monday, giving 15,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine to metro area educators and child care workers. It'll be the first mass vaccination site in Minnesota.
