Updated 11:43 p.m.
Minnesota’s COVID-19 numbers put Friday back in a familiar pattern with new cases of climbing, daily deaths in single digits and hospitalizations flat but idiosyncratic.
The Department of Health reported 738 new cases and eight more deaths. Current hospitalizations (313) increased slightly from Thursday’s report, while the number of hospitals and intensive care units (152) declined.
Public health theaters will be expected to report at 2 p.m.
While hospitalizations and ICU needs remain much lower than their peak in late May, they showed an upward swing in July and flattened in August on just 300 daily cases. Friday marked the 15th consecutive day with 300 or more current hospitalizations, a pattern that has not been seen since mid to late June.
Of the 63,723 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, about 88 percent of those diagnosed have recovered to the point that they no longer need to be isolated.
Among the 1,693 people confirmed to have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, about 75 percent lived in long-term care as assisted living facilities; almost all had underlying health problems.
Cases grow below 20-somethings, to the north
Officials remain concerned about the growth of COVID-19 among younger Minnesotans, including that those infected will accidentally spread the virus to grandparents and other vulnerable people.
People in their 20s remain the age group with the highest number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the pandemic – nearly 15,000.
The past few days of data show that Minnesotans under the age of 20 have run nearly 20-somethings for most new cases. The median age of Minnesotans infected is confirmed to be 36. That has gone down in recent weeks.
On a regular basis, the Twin Cities and their suburbs have driven the counting of newly reported cases.
However, new cases have slowed dramatically in recent days in the Twin Cities metro area, while numbers continue to rise in northern and southern Minnesota.
Several of the state’s fastest growing population relative to the population are in northern Minnesota. Beltrami County, home of Bemidji, has seen a steady climb in recent weeks. The province reported 267 cases as of Friday.
Meatpacking operations were formerly hotspots for major outbreaks in southwest, west-central and central Minnesota earlier in the pandemic.
New cases have slowed sharply in recent weeks, although the problem has recently resurfaced in McLeod County (240 cases), where more than 20 employees at a Seneca Foods factory in Glencoe have been identified in an outbreak.
‘We are all connected’
Higher Concerns over Reports of Desperate Residents in Long-Term Care, officials this week also issued new guidance designed to open the door wider to visitors.
“Loneliness, depression, isolation and heartbeat are all safety issues,” Aisha Elmquist, the state’s deputy ombudsman for long-term care, told reporters Monday when she and other public health leaders answered questions about the latest COVID-19 data.
“Everyone needs others,” she added, “including those who live in long-term settings.”
Most of the people who died from COVID-19 in Minnesota lived in long-term care. That toll is one of the reasons that care has steep visitor boundaries in the long run.
In early May, the Walz administration unveiled a ‘fight plan’ to keep Minnesotans living in long-term facilities, including expanded testing, more personal protective equipment for health workers and a commitment to maintain “adequate” staffing if workers fall ill.
It helped daily death counts down to most single figures. Now, however, officials are concerned that profits could slip away if COVID-19 ripples across the state.
They said they see new cases tied to long-term facilities that they believe are largely driven by dispersal of the community and inadvertently brought in by staff, as restrictions on daily life are loosened and people return to indoor collection spaces and attend family gatherings.
The situation with big picture in long-term care is “fairly positive,” Jan Malcolm said Monday, noting that 90 percent of assisted living facilities in Minnesota and 71 percent of experienced nursing homes in the past 28 have not had COVID-19 cases. have had days.
Still, state epidemiologist Dr Ruth Lynfield urges people to stay vigilant against the spread of the disease – wearing masks in courtyards, social distance and hand washing – and warned that efforts to reduce the spread among vulnerable populations were at stake when people return to public spaces.
“This is fragile and we are very concerned that the progress we have made may be a risk, and may even be lost, if we stop our precautionary measures,” she said Monday. “We need to do our part in Minnesota to limit transmission. We are all connected to each other. ”
Developments from around the state
Mayo Clinic: Plasma efforts show promise
Convalescent plasma therapy – which uses blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat those with the disease – shows some promise in reducing deaths, the Mayo Clinic said Friday.
Mayo researchers said a three-month study showed that the timing of plasma transfusions in a group of more than 35,000 patients was associated with lower mortality. The patient group included a very large proportion of critically ill patients.
Researchers also reported that in a subset of the group, they found lower mortality associated with plasma transfusions that contained higher levels of antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19.
– MPR News Staff
School guidance card replaced with new data
Fresh data released by the Minnesota Department of Health again changes the guidance for some of the state’s school districts, as they decide if children learn in person, online or in any combination, based on their local COVID-19- circumstances.
The new figures, for example, give elementary school students in Ramsey and Dakota counties no longer advised to go to school in person – when school started this week – due to increasing COVID-19 cases.
Data released Thursday by the Department of Health indicates that 11 counties, including Ramsey and Dakota, will have to withdraw from learning from individuals because of high-profile cases.
Recommendations for reopening school based on COVID-19 case counts
Schools in another 14 counties, for the most part in the southern part of the state, would be recommended to shift to personal learning. The other 62 counties of the state saw no change in their recommendations, which are based on COVID-19 cases per capita over a 14-day period.
Officials have stressed that the card is intended as a starting point for school districts, as they weigh their mix of personal and online instruction in the COVID-19 era. The figures, and the accompanying recommendations, are now updated weekly.
Counties with very few cases per head are advised to teach personally to all students – 48 counties as of Thursday.
With more cases, schools are encouraged to provide secondary students with a mix of personal and distance education, while still doing in-school for primary schools. Another 29 counties fall into that category.
Eight counties are currently recommended for hybrid learning for all students. They include Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Scott, Sherburne and Blue Earth.
Two counties have so many cases that the state currently recommends upper-class students there study full-time at a distance: Rock County in southwest Minnesota, and Red Lake County in northwest Minnesota.
Officials have stressed that the data at the provincial level is a roadmap, not an order. Districts within those counties make decisions that may not exactly match the data.
St. Paul Public Schools, the state’s second largest school district and the largest district in Ramsey County, has already announced that the school year will begin with all distance education students and will review the decision by the end of September.
– David H. Montgomery | MPR News
COVID-19 peace-time flight extended by another 30 days
The need for peace that Gov. Tim Walz has used to manage the response to Coronavirus of Minnesota will take at least another 30 days.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the state House of Representatives extended its authority. It gives the Walz administration the power to spend money and issue guidelines without first passing the Legislature.
“Although of course a lot has changed since March, some things remain the same, which is that we are very much in the middle of the active pandemic and require swift action to do our best to keep this epidemic under control,” said commissioner of health Jan Malcolm said.
Republican lawmakers have argued that the Walz forces are in place for too long and need to be re-governed. Walz first declared the health crisis in March.
– Brian Bakst | MPR News
Top headers
Professors say they are concerned about students and their families: Universities and colleges have different plans to return to teaching this fall, and there are specific needs for many classroom settings. As faculty and instructors prepare for teaching, they raise concerns about their students and their families.
What does a COVID-19 ‘positivity rate’ actually mean? One of the most important metrics for tracking the spread of COVID-19 in Minnesota is the ‘positivity rate’ – as well as the prevalence of positive cases of the disease, compared to the number of tests performed. Our data reporter takes a deep dive into explaining what lies behind the number.
COVID-19 in Minnesota
Data in these graphs are based on cumulative total Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics about COVID-19 on the Health Department website.
The coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory drops, coughs and niches, similar to the way the flu can spread.
