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COVID In Minnesota: 43 Deaths, Including 1 Inmate Fatality, Reported Friday

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The state's average positivity rate continues its slight decline, as health officials report 14,565 new cases of COVID-19 and 43 deaths.

Of the deaths reported Friday, two took place in 2021. One person who died was an inmate in a Minnesota prison. Since March of 2020, 11,382 Minnesotans have died due to the virus.

In all, there have been 1,309,665 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including 46,472 reinfections. However, the department of health says nearly new 11,000 reports have yet to be examined.

The average positivity rate has ticked down to 22.5% from a recent high of 23.7% recorded on Jan. 10. Due to the highly contagious Omicron variant, it was the highest figure reported since the beginning of the pandemic.

Case growth has also dropped to 206.3 cases per 100,000 residents, though hospitalizations are back up to 28.7 per 100,000 residents, after a brief dip. As of Thursday, there were 213 patients in intensive care with COVID-19 and an additional 1,289 in non-ICU beds.

In all, over 9.1 million vaccines have been administered in Minnesota, including over 2 million booster doses. Doctors encourage everyone eligible for a booster to get their dose to change the direction of the pandemic. It'll likely require 70-80% of the population to get booster shots, though CDC data shows just over half of eligible Americans have gotten a booster.

Still, wastewater data from the Metropolitan Council's Environmental Services division suggests that the Twin Cities is past its peak, a forecast echoed by Mayo Clinic's data scientists. But doctors say the surge is only half over.

"It's important to recognize Omicron surge is not over, there will be thousands of infections and more hospitalizations on the way back down too," said Mayo Clinic data scientist Dr. Curtis Storlie. He added that if boosters are not taken seriously, more disruptive waves of the pandemic could continue.

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