ST PAUL, Minn. — Tuesday, July 21
- Wisconsin reaches new daily high in COVID-19 cases
- After data migration, MDH reports average of 636 cases each for Monday and Tuesday
- Cub joins Target, other major retailers in shopper mask mandate
- MDH reports first COVID-related death of infant in Minnesota, CDC doing additional analysis
- Minnesota bars, restaurants warned over alleged COVID-19 safety violations
2 p.m.
Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS) reported 1,117 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, a record single-day high for the state.
That brings the state's total cases to 44,135. An additional 14,488 people were tested for COVID-19 in the past day in Wisconsin.
DHS also reported 13 deaths Tuesday, the highest since June 20, bringing the state's total number of deaths to 859.
Wisconsin health officials say an additional 65 people have been hospitalized from the virus.
Of the confirmed cases in Wisconsin, 26% involve people between the ages of 20 to 29, 17% are between 30 and 39, 14% are between 40 and 49, and 13% are 50 to 59. An estimated 9% are between 60 and 69, and 9% are between 10 and 19.
Milwaukee County reports the largest number of cases with 16,570 and 416 deaths. Brown County reports 3,596 cases and 46 deaths, while Dane County has registered 3,586 cases and 33 deaths.
11 a.m.
Numbers released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Monday and Tuesday reflect 1,272 new cases of COVID-19, and continue an extended trend of single-digit fatalities.
On Monday MDH reported what would have been a one-day high of 922 cases diagnosed, but cautioned that a new data recording system likely impacted those numbers. Combined with the 352 cases reported on the MDH website Tuesday, that reflects a daily average of 636 for the two days.
The department does not expect the system to affect daily case number reports after Tuesday.
Those cases bring the total of diagnosed cases in the state to 47,457 since the onset of the pandemic.
Three more Minnesotans died from complications of the coronavirus in the past 24-hour reporting period, pushing the number of fatalities in the state to 1,548.
The number of patients currently hospitalized in Minnesota is up slightly at 266. Of those patients, 112 are showing symptoms severe enough to require care in the ICU.
MDH says 41,511 of the Minnesotans once diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered to the point they no longer require isolation.
Those between the ages of 20 and 29 continue to make up the largest group of cases with 11,169 and just two deaths. People ages 30 to 39 comprise 8,818 cases and 12 deaths, while people 80 to 80 account for just 1,724 cases but 523 of Minnesota's total deaths. That's 33%.
Hennepin County health officials confirm 15,125 coronavirus cases and 802 deaths, followed by Ramsey County with 5,825 cases and 250 deaths. Dakota County has recorded 3,138 cases and 100 deaths.
Monday, July 20
2 p.m.
State health officials say a 9-month-old who has died from COVID-19 in Minnesota may be one of the youngest victims of the virus in the country.
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Commissioner Jan Malcolm said Monday that the death appears to be an isolated incident "related to this infant's very specific situation."
"A death involving such a young person is tragic and certainly very unusual," Malcolm said.
Because there is so little data nationwide on COVID-19 deaths in infants, MDH is sending samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for additional analysis. MDH Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann said that's because they want any information that's available to be "added to the broader understanding of infant deaths across the country."
"An infant death is devastating and thankfully there have not been a lot of infant deaths in the country, but we want to make sure that we’re understanding as much as we can about this infant’s, the physiological changes that happened with this infant," she said.
The infant died at home and was not hospitalized, according to Ehresmann. The child was in Clay County, but MDH would not provide further details to protect the privacy of the family.
Ehresmann said the child did not have an underlying health condition, and that the medical examiner found two causes of death: upper and lower respiratory tract infection, and a nasal culture that tested positive for COVID-19. The child showed "some of the expected respiratory symptoms" and inflammation in the upper airways, she said.
The infant's death is the first COVID-related death of anyone under 20 years old in Minnesota.
Ehresmann said generally, transmission among children appears to be driven by adults who carry the virus and pass it onto kids, rather than children who are spreading it.
She emphasized that while they are seeing fewer cases in children in general, and fewer severe cases in children, there is much health officials still don't know.
"We don’t really know the underlying sort of long-term impact of a COVID infection on an individual," Ehresmann said. "And so we’re wanting to learn more about that, so even as I talk about the fact that kids tend to have a milder illness, fewer hospitalizations, all of those things, we want to acknowledge that we’re continuing to learn about this illness."
Commissioner Malcolm also clarified that while Monday's reported count of 922 new COVID-19 cases would have been a record high for Minnesota, it followed a transition over to a different data management system. She said that means not all those cases have been vetted, and hat there could be some "abnormalities" in the data over the next couple of days.
11 a.m.
Minnesota health officials are reporting the highest single-day COVID-19 case count since the pandemic began, and the state's youngest death.
On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported 922 new cases of the coronavirus. That's the highest single-day total that's ever been reported in the state.
It's out of a tally of 14,261 tests, which falls above the average of the last two weeks, but not among the highest testing days.
MDH has been warning that as case numbers rise, deaths and hospitalizations will likely rise as well, as younger people who make up a large portion of the cases begin to pass the virus onto higher-risk groups.
On Monday, MDH reported an additional four deaths, bringing the total in the state to 1,545. A death has been reported in the age group of 0-5 years for the first time. KARE 11 has reached out to MDH for more information.
Two hundred forty-seven people are currently hospitalized, with 115 of them in the ICU. Those hospitalization numbers are down slightly from both Saturday and Sunday.
People ages 20-29 still make up the largest group of cases, with 10,865.
KARE 11’s coverage of the coronavirus is rooted in Facts, not Fear. Visit kare11.com/coronavirus for comprehensive coverage, find out what you need to know about the Midwest specifically, learn more about the symptoms, and see what businesses are open as the state slowly lifts restrictions. Have a question? Text it to us at 763-797-7215. And get the latest coronavirus updates sent right to your inbox every morning. Subscribe to the KARE 11 Sunrise newsletter here. Help local families in need: www.kare11.com/give11.
The state of Minnesota has set up a data portal online at mn.gov/covid19.
