ST PAUL, Minn. — Wednesday, Oct. 6
- MNUFC fan groups to boycott Allianz Field without vaccine, test mandate
- Some MN community testing sites get expanded hours
- MDH: 7th straight day of COVID hospitalizations over 800
- Johnson & Johnson asks U.S. for booster authorization
- CDC: Trick-or-treating safe; 'too soon to tell' for Christmas gatherings
- U.S. hits 700,000 COVID deaths as overall cases start to drop
- Gopher hockey postpones opener to Oct. 8 due to COVID concerns
Both COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to trend higher in data released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), but there are also extraneous factors in the latest numbers.
MDH took reports on 3,886 new cases in the last day, but the department says some of them were actually recorded over the weekend but did not appear in Tuesday's numbers due to a technical glitch. The new infections bring Minnesota's total cases to 729,334 since the pandemic began.
The new cases are based on results from 38,560 tests (26,380 PCR, 12,180 antigen) processed in private and state labs. That is a relatively high volume mid-week, and is likely due to increased testing of students to avoid school outbreaks. Health officials consider a positive PCR test a confirmed COVID case, while a positive antigen test is recorded as a probable case.
Also on Wednesday, Gov. Walz announced that the state is expanding its COVID-19 community testing capacity by adding testing days at clinics in Mankato, St. Cloud, Moorhead and Winona.
Hospitalizations continue to rise, with 864 being treated for COVID on an inpatient basis as of Tuesday. Of those patients, 224 are showing symptoms serious enough to require ICU treatment. Bed availability remains a concern in the Twin Cities metro, with just eight ICU beds (1.3%) open in the system, and a total of 42 non-ICU beds available (1.2% of total supply).
Total hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic have risen to 38,573.
MDH reported 40 deaths in Wednesday's data, but that number needs to be broken down a bit. Of those fatalities, 15 are from the current reporting period, 23 are from deaths in September that are now being recorded, with one death each from July of 2021 and December of 2020. Six of the deaths occurred in Hennepin County, while Anoka, Dakota and Olmstead Counties reported three apiece.
The vaccine dashboard reflects the slow pace of additional Minnesotans getting immunized. MDH says 73.6% of those 16 and older have received at least one dose (3,412,916 people) with 70.2% of those having completed their shot series to be considered fully vaccinated (3,242,885 people).
A total of 6,519,376 doses have been administered across Minnesota.
Tuesday, Oct. 5
11 a.m.
The delta variant of the COVID-19 virus continues to push hospitalization numbers up across Minnesota, according to data released Tuesday by state health officials.
As of Monday, 847 people were in hospital beds with COVID across the state, with 220 of those patients requiring treatment in the ICU. It's the fifth consecutive day with hospitalizations above the 800 threshold. Bed availability remains tight, with just 45 openings for non-ICU patients across the Twin Cities system (1.2% vacancy level) and 11 vacant ICU beds (1.7% availability).
Total hospitalizations are now at 38,347 since the onset of the pandemic.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is reporting 7,133 new infections recorded across the state between 4 a.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Monday. Officials note that a technical issue over the weekend may have left some cases unreported. Wednesday's numbers should include those cases.
To date, 725,451 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded by MDH.
Twelve additional deaths from the virus push Minnesota's total fatalities over the 8,200 mark (8,203). Among the new deaths are three people in their 50s, one each from Meeker, Scott and Stearns Counties.
Health officials say 4,648 of those deaths (57%) involve people associated with long-term care or assisted living facilities.
To date, more than six and a half million doses of COVID-19 virus (6,504,618) have been administered in Minnesota. MDH says 3,410,953 of those ages 16-plus have received at least one dose (73.6%), with 70% of those residents having completed their shot series to be considered fully vaccinated (3,240,575 people).
