ST PAUL, Minn. — Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021
- Judge won't block vaccine mandate for MN health workers
- New community testing site to open in Morris, MN
- Biden: Vaccines for children should be available next month
- Dr. Anthony Fauci says families can feel safe trick-or-treating outdoors for Halloween as COVID-19 cases in the U.S. decline
- Hospitalizations near 1,000 for the first time since Dec. 2020
Daily COVID hospitalizations are inching closer to the 1,000 threshold as health officials keep a wary eye on Minnesota's ongoing battle with the virus and the delta variant.
Numbers released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) show 990 people being treated for COVID on an inpatient basis as of Tuesday, 260 of them in ICU. It's the highest daily number since Dec. 23 of 2020, when 1,048 were reported hospitalized with the virus.
Bed availability is low in parts of the state, especially the Twin Cities metro where just 6 ICU beds are listed as open (.9% vacancy) and 49 non-ICU beds are vacant (1.3%).
In total, 39,447 people have been hospitalized with COVID in Minnesota since the pandemic began.
MDH reported 24 more deaths from the virus Wednesday, 21 of which occurred in the month of October and three in September. Of those deaths, three involved people in their 30s: Two recorded in Ramsey County, and one from Blue Earth County.
New cases dipped a bit in the most recent reporting period with 2,388 infections. Health officials say 1,825 of those cases were confirmed by PCR tests, while 563 are considered probable from antigen testing.
Minnesota's total cases are likely to top 750,000 by the end of the week (749,144 as of Wednesday).
The state vaccine dashboard says 6,644,085 total doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in Minnesota to date, with 59.3% of them Pfizer, 36.3% Moderna and 4.3% Johnson & Johnson. MDH says 3,262,423 people age 16 and older have completed their shot series and are considered fully vaccinated (70.6%), while 3,430,921 of those eligible have received at least one dose (an even 74%).
Only 166,459 children ages 12 to 15 have been immunized at least once.
Tuesday, Oct. 12
11 a.m.
The daily number of Minnesotans hospitalized with COVID continues to escalate as state's health care providers struggle under the load.
Data released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) shows 960 people were being treated for the virus on an inpatient basis as of Monday, with 254 of those patients requiring ICU care. The last time daily hospital numbers were that high was Dec. 28, 2020, when 964 were reported.
Total hospitalizations have now reached 39,181 since the start of the pandemic.
MDH is reporting 7,942 new infections during the reporting period between 4 a.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Monday. The combined numbers are shared Tuesdays as the department no longer issues reports over the weekend.
The new cases bring Minnesota's total to 746,768.
Ten more people have lost their lives to COVID, bringing fatalities in the state to 8,330. Of the new daily deaths, one involved a person in their early-to-mid 40s from Morrison County, and both Benton and Ramsey County recorded two COVID fatalities. Nine of those listed in Tuesday's report died in October, with one death dating back to September.
The number of Minnesotans age 16 and up who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has now reached 3,429,066 (74% of those eligible), while 3,260,319 of those (70.5%) have completed their shot series and are considered fully vaccinated. As of Sunday, 166,312 children between 12 and 17 had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
