COVID In Minnesota: 57 More Deaths Added To State's Toll; Positivity Still Inching Down
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With the state's average positivity rate now on a downward trend, Minnesota officials on Thursday reported 14,633 new cases and 57 more deaths due to COVID-19, including one person in their 20s.
The latest figures from the Minnesota Department of Health place the total case count at 1,295,117, which includes 41,935 reinfections. However, the MDH estimates that there are nearly 9,500 newly added positive reports still awaiting review.
The newly added deaths from MDH include five from 2021, one of which was back in July. Since the start of the pandemic, 11,339 Minnesotans have died from the virus.
The state's rolling average positivity rate currently stands at 22.7% as of the latest reports, a shade below the recent peak of 23.7%, which was also the highest figure ever seen in the state of Minnesota since the start of the pandemic.
The rate of new daily cases per 100,000 residents stands at 216, down from the recent peak of nearly 230.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have now been 55,642 hospitalizations for COVID-19, according to the latest figures, 10,623 of which were ICU hospitalizations.
As of Thursday, there were only about 44 staffed intensive care unit beds for adults available across the entire state, with 230 ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, along with 1,313 non-ICU beds. Only 19 staffed pediatric ICU beds are available.
A total of 9,154,901 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, including about 2 million boosters. Of the state's 5 and older population, 73.5% have received at least one shot.
Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday the state will distribute more than 2 million KN95 masks to communities across Minnesota. Nearly a third of the masks -- 650,000 -- will go to local public health agencies, while another 550,000 will go to schools, the governor's office said.