After a steady decline in the case and death rate for most of June, the Minnesota coronavirus outbreak appears to have stalled in the past week.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has increased in recent days, and young adults are the main drivers: 20-year-olds now make up the largest group of age cases.
The resurgence of COVID-19 in Minnesota comes as many Sun Belt states have seen an increase in case counts and hospitalizations. However, the percentage of tests that returned positive results fell on Sunday in Minnesota and has been virtually flat for the past week. Hospitalization numbers also fell over the weekend, after a pause in the past week.
Here are the latest coronavirus statistics:
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35,549 cases confirmed by 585,417 tests
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1,425 deaths
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4,010 cases requiring hospitalization
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288 people remain hospitalized; 143 in intensive care
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30,809 patients no longer need isolation
New cases of COVID-19 per day in Minnesota
David H. Montgomery | MPR News
Young adult and bar groups
New clusters of cases have been linked to people who went to bars in Mankato and Minneapolis, suggesting that some younger adults are not doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus as they return to public spaces.
Minnesota’s first sacrifices to limit the spread of COVID-19 “will be undermined if we do not obtain the cooperation of all Minnesotans, especially Minnesotans who are more active and social,” Kris Ehresmann, director, told reporters. of infectious diseases of the state.
“We desperately need Minnesota youth to take it seriously.”
Two Mankato bars, Rounders and The 507, were the focal points of an outbreak that involved more than 100 cases, Ehresmann said. All of the sick were in their 20s and had gone to bars the first weekend that they were allowed to reopen. Officials were also following a group of 30 cases at two Minneapolis bars: Cowboy Jack’s and Kollege Klub.
Those bars’ social media shows they were crowded, with no room for social estrangement, and people who were standing and not masked, so they were not following state guidance, Ehresmann said.
“It’s not that you can’t socialize. It’s not like you can’t have fun, ”she said. “But you must do it safely for yourself and the people around you.”
While those youth are likely to be less likely to experience complications from COVID-19, officials say the concern is that they are unknowingly spreading the disease to grandparents or other potentially vulnerable populations.
The median age of confirmed cases in Minnesota has decreased and is now less than 40 years old.
Ehresmann said Friday that some of the people who tested positive for Mankato work in child care, noting that they have a high probability of passing the disease on to children and families without realizing it.
Cluster at Faribault State Prison
Another increase in results comes from an outbreak at Faribault State Prison, which has recorded 206 positive tests and two deaths among inmates since their first case was recorded on June 3. Faribault prison had 1,718 inmates as of Saturday.
The last death in Faribault prison was Leroy Bergstrom, 71. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 10 and had been critically hospitalized since June 16.
In response to the outbreak, Minnesota jails have limited prisoners’ social interactions and distributed masks. Some prisoners have also been released to reduce overcrowding, and the population of state prisons fell from about 8,900 on March 1 to 7,962 on June 25.
Meat packing hot spots remain
Many of the outbreaks outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area focus on meat packing plants. Officials have stepped up testing at those hot spots, uncovering more infections.
That includes Mower County in southeast Minnesota, where there were 868 confirmed cases as of Friday.
Mower County is the home of Hormel Foods and Quality Pork Processors. Both have partnered with Mayo Clinic to increase employee testing.
While some of the positive cases in Mower County are associated with people who work on the premises and with the people they live with, county officials say they are also seeing transmission among people who live in the county but who work. in other counties where coronavirus is present.
Nobles, in southwestern Minnesota, reported 1,643 confirmed cases on Friday. About 1 in 14 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in the county since the pandemic began, although the new case count has dropped dramatically in recent weeks.
Worthington’s massive JBS pork processing plant was the epicenter of the Nobles outbreak. The JBS plant closed on April 20, but has since been reopened with expanded hygiene measures and health monitoring.
Similar problems have been reported in Stearns County, where cases of COVID-19 linked to two packaging plants, the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Cold Spring and Jennie-O Turkey in Melrose, soared in May.
An undisclosed number of workers at both plants have tested positive for the virus. There were around 55 confirmed cases in Stearns County in early May. As of Friday, confirmed cases were at 2,156 with 19 deaths.
Kandiyohi County in west central Minnesota is also dealing with a significant workload more than two months after officials at the Jennie-O turkey processing plant there said some employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. .
As of Friday, the Health Department reported that 564 people have tested positive in the county, the same as Thursday. The county had confirmed three cases of COVID-19 in late April.
Cases have also increased dramatically in Cottonwood County (130 cases), home to a pork processing plant in Windom, and in Lyon County (289 cases), around a turkey processor in Marshall.
New COVID-19 Cases by Minnesota Region.
David H. Montgomery | MPR News
Statewide Developments
MN Medical Association, Healthcare Groups Urge Policy Makers to Mandatory Masking
The Minnesota Medical Association and 20 other health care groups across the state are urging public and private sector officials to require masks to stop transmission of the coronavirus.
In a statement, the group says mounting evidence shows that wearing masks is helpful in preventing the spread of the virus.
The statement comes as states like Texas and Florida have seen a massive spike in cases weeks after loosening social distancing rules, and when Minnesota has identified clusters of cases between bar-hoppers in the Mankato and Dinkytown area of Minneapolis. near the University of Minnesota campus.
The cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis require masks in stores and other interior spaces, while other Minnesota cities, including Duluth and Rochester, do not.
– Catharine Richert | MPR News
Top holders
In Rochester, a debate on the mandatory masks in Med City: In southeastern Minnesota, there is increasing pressure on local officials to require masks within local businesses and other facilities in the city of Rochester. Some calls come from healthcare providers who say Med City is not living up to its reputation without such a mandate.
The pandemic forces Minnesota summer festivals to cancel, or virtualize: Summer festivals are a long and colorful tradition in Minnesota. But concerns about the spread of COVID-19 have forced organizers of most festivals to cancel events this summer, or find creative ways to adapt.
COVID-19 in Minnesota
The data in these charts is based on the running totals of the Minnesota Department of Health published at 11 am daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at Department of Health website.
Coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, coughs, and sneezes, similar to how the flu can spread.
Government and medical leaders urge people to wash their hands frequently and well, refrain from touching their faces, covering their coughs, disinfecting surfaces, and avoiding large crowds, all in an effort to curb the rapid spread of the virus.
