ST PAUL, Minn. —
- MDH reports 29 new deaths, 1,610 hospitalizations
- MDH gives guidelines to get at-home COVID tests covered by insurance
- Minneapolis and St. Paul temporarily issue food establishment rule
- State easing quarantine restrictions for child care providers
- Minneapolis updated vaccine-or-test mandate; all children 4 and under will be exempt from the mandate at eating establishments
Tuesday, Jan. 18
11 a.m.
On Tuesday, MDH officials reported 29 new COVID deaths, which include one person in their 30s, and two people in their 40s.
This data does not include this past holiday weekend, it is just updated as of 4 a.m. Friday, January 14.
Tomorrow, the numbers from the extended holiday are expected to be released.
Meanwhile, Minnesota's cumulative death total is at 11,000 since the pandemic began.
Health officials say 5,234 deaths have taken place in long-term care or assisted living facilities.
On Tuesday, 10,651 new COVID-19 cases in the state were announced, however the latest data published likely does not paint the full picture of the current coronavirus surge, which has been fueled largely due to the omicron variant, as many at-home COVID tests were not reported to state health officials.
The cumulative total COVID cases in the state is now at 1,148,888 since the start of the pandemic.
Health experts also say that due to the contagiousness of omicron, counting new cases should not be the primary measurement, saying that hospitalizations and deaths better illustrate the severity of the latest surge.
According to MDH's latest data available, 1,610 people are being treated for COVID in hospitals around the state, with 1,362 in non-ICU beds and 248 in the ICU.
Hospital bed space continues to be low across the state.
There is one staffed adult ICU bed available in northeastern Minnesota and zero staffed pediatric ICU beds in the central portion of the state.
In the metro, there are seven staffed pediatric ICU beds available and three staffed adult ICU beds available.
MDH reported 8,989,222 total doses of vaccine have been administered in the state, with 3,799,301 people age 5 and older having received at least one shot (72.9%). Of that number 3,563,082 people have completed their COVID series and are considered completely vaccinated (68.4%).
Among children 5-11 years old, 175,346 kids have at least one shot (34%) and 139,219 have completed their vaccine series (27%).
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