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Live updates: Walz says rate of COVID vaccinations has doubled since last week

Here are the latest developments with COVID-19 spread in Minnesota and Wisconsin, vaccine distribution, restrictions, and the return to schools for some students.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Tuesday, Feb. 2  

  • Walz: Vaccinations per day double last week's numbers
  • Tuesday COVID case numbers lowest since Sept. 22
  • More than 35,000 COVID vaccine doses, 100+ more vaccination sites made available for Minnesota seniors
  • Minnesota expert urges US government to focus on first doses to reduce impact of COVID-19
  • MDH: More than 400,000 Minnesotans with at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose

2 p.m.

Minnesota health officials held a briefing on the state's COVID-19 situation and vaccination efforts. You can listen to the briefing below. 

MDH Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann said Minnesota was still only receiving a small supply of vaccines each week from the federal government. She urged people to be patient with providers due to the very limited supply. 

Ehresmann also cautioned Minnesotans about vaccine-related scams. She listed some red flags that mean you're the target of an attempted scam: 

  • Asking for information like your social security number or credit card number
  • Asking for payment for the vaccine
  • Claiming you can have the vaccine shipped to you

Asked whether the state will loosen restrictions for vaccinated Minnesotans, Ehresmann said there are no such plans yet. She added that mitigation measures -- like masking and social distancing -- will continue to be necessary until 80% of the state's population is vaccinated.

"That's what will get us to the end of this," she said.

Health officials said based on current vaccine availability, it might take around 16 weeks to vaccinate all of Minnesota's seniors.  

Health officials are maintaining a cautiously optimistic tone about the state's COVID-19 trends. 

"Right now, the trend is exceptionally positive," Ehresmann said. 

11 a.m.

The push to increase the number of COVID-19 vaccinations given to state residents appears to be making an impact, according to Gov. Tim Walz and numbers released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). 

Minnesota's vaccination dashboard says 447,610 people have now received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, while 116,928 have completed the two-shot series. In a news release Gov. Walz says the number of vaccinations being administered per day this week is twice the shots given each day last week. He says the increase follows a directive to met a goal that providers should administer 90% of the vaccine supply they receive within 72 hours, and the rest within one week's time.

The dashboard shows the percentage of vaccines administered in 3-days time at 77%: not the goal, but getting closer. At this point just 8% of Minnesotans have been vaccinated with one dose or more.

Credit: KARE

“As I said last week, what gets measured gets done,” said Governor Walz. “We still need far more vaccine from the federal government, but we are doing everything we can to get all Minnesotans vaccinated quickly and safely once supply arrives. We have seen good progress in vaccination rates over the past week and we will continue to work tirelessly to get all vaccine we receive into the arms of Minnesotans, crush COVID-19, and end this pandemic.”

On Monday Walz announced that an additional 35,000 doses will be made available this week to Minnesotans ages 65 and older, and launched a statewide vaccine finder to help seniors locate their closest provider. 

Data released Tuesday by MDH reflects 633 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the last day, the lowest number since Sept. 22. Those case numbers are based on results from 10,213 tests (9,114 PCR, 1,107 antigen) processed in private and state labs. Health officials consider a positive PCR test a confirmed COVID case, while a positive antigen test is considered a probable case. 

Credit: KARE

Minnesota has reached a total of 463,132 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with 20,262 of those cases linked to antigen tests. 

Eight more Minnesotans have died from the virus, bringing total deaths to 6,210. Of those deaths 3,933, or 63% of them are tied to long-term care or assisted living facilities. 

Credit: KARE

Total hospitalizations have risen to 24,447 since COVID-19 arrived in Minnesota, with 5,056 of those patients requiring care in the ICU. 

MDH says of the people who have tested positive for the virus, 448,595 have recovered to the point they no longer need to isolate. 

Young adults make up the largest grouping of Minnesota's COVID cases: Those ages 20 to 24 account for 46,564 cases and three deaths, while those 25 to 29 make up 41,631 cases and six deaths. State health officials have said that demographic provides unique challenges as they tend to be social, and may not experience symptoms of the virus or know they are sick. That can lead to spreading among more vulnerable populations. 

The largest number of fatalities involves 85 to 89-year-olds, with 1,186 fatalities in just 6,055 cases. 

Hennepin County has recorded the most COVID activity in the state with 96,097 cases and 1,533 deaths, followed by Ramsey County with 41,332 cases and 767 deaths, Dakota County with 34,288 cases and 365 deaths, and Anoka County with 31,867 cases and 372 deaths.

Cook County in northeast Minnesota has recorded the least COVID activity, holding steady with 116 cases and zero fatalities. 

 Monday, Feb. 1    

Noon

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Commissioner Jan Malcolm said on a regular briefing call Monday that the state is seeing several positive COVID-19 trends.

“We continue to see encouraging trends in the rate of growth in our cases declining week over week,” Malcolm said. She said health officials are “pleased” that the seven-day average test positivity rate remains just under 5%.

She said she would like to see testing volumes come back up to where they were in the fall, so that MDH could get a better picture of case growth.

MDH did note recent outbreaks in bars, restaurants and youth hockey programs. The state's infectious disease director said kids should keep wearing masks. 

"That is intended to reduce the opportunity for transmission and that is something we're anticipating will be necessary to keep moving forward with youth sports that everyone is excited about," said Kris Ehresmann.

Ehresmann also reiterated the vaccines are safe. The CDC has several monitoring sources, including VAERS, which stands for the vaccine adverse event reporting system that tracks any unusual patterns. 

"If what we refer to as a signal was detected and there was some problem, there would be instant notification around the country about that and there would be recommendations to stop or modify the vaccination," said Ehresmann. "We have not heard anything like that." 

The CDC says COVID-19 vaccines have undergone the most intensive safety monitoring in history. Some people have reported mild side effects and in rare cases, severe allergic reaction. 

HealthPartners' Dr. Mark Sannes said the claim vaccines are linked to the death of elderly people, particularly in Norway, aren't true.

"We know people die from various reasons on any given day and some of those are going to line up such that they die after they get vaccinated," explained Dr. Sannes. "All of the clinical trials and all of the post surveillance from the trials suggest these are safe vaccines."

11 a.m.

Both new COVID-19 cases and newly reported deaths dipped considerably Monday, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

MDH reported 727 new cases, and said two more people have died due to the virus. While newly reported COVID-19 numbers are often lower at the start of the week, Monday's death total is the lowest since Sept. 20. Monday's total number of newly reported cases is the lowest since Sept. 30.

Total coronavirus fatalities in Minnesota since the pandemic began now sit at 6,202. Of those deaths 3,930, or 63%, are tied to long-term care or assisted living settings.

Credit: KARE
COVID-19 deaths reported in Minnesota as of Feb. 1.

Also Monday, the Walz administration announced Minnesotans age 65 and up will have greater access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Gov. Walz said 35,000 doses will be made available for seniors at more than 100 sites. 

MDH said the 727 new cases were based on 21,432 tests (19,579 PCR, 1,853 antigen) processed in private and state labs. Health officials consider a positive PCR test a confirmed COVID case, while a positive antigen test is considered a probable case. 

Minnesota's total positive cases have reached 462,528, with 20,138 of those based on antigen tests.

Credit: KARE
COVID-19 cases reported in Minnesota as of Feb. 1.

In terms of the state's vaccination effort, 441,922 people have received at least one dose and 116,248 have received both doses, as of Jan. 30.

MDH says health providers have administered 90% of the vaccine they've received within seven days time. That does not include second doses that cannot be administered due to a patient's mandatory wait time. 

MDH data shows the number of hospital beds being used to treat COVID patients continues to drop slowly, with 295 being used statewide as of Sunday (92 beds in ICU). Bed availability has risen slightly at hospitals in the Twin Cities metro, with 4.7% of non-ICU beds available, and ICU bed availability at 9%. 

Total hospitalizations have climbed to 24,352 since the pandemic began, with ICU patients now exceeding the 5,000 mark (5,045).

Of those Minnesotans who have been diagnosed with COVID at one time, 447,420 have recovered to the point they no longer require isolation. 

The largest COVID-19 case grouping involves young adults ages 20 to 24, with 46,511 cases and three deaths, followed by those 25 to 29 with 41,583 cases and six deaths. People between 85 and 89 make up the largest group of fatalities with 1,184 deaths in 6,052 diagnosed cases. 

Hennepin County has recorded the most COVID activity in the state with 95,963 cases and 1,530 deaths, followed by Ramsey County with 41,282 cases and 765 deaths, Dakota County with 34,232 cases and 364 deaths, and Anoka County with 31,818 cases and 372 fatalities. 

Cook County in northeastern Minnesota remains quiet on the COVID front, with just 117 diagnosed cases and zero deaths.

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