Minnesota health officials on Saturday named 32 senior living and other long-term care homes where residents or staffers have tested positive for COVID-19.
The list on the state Department of Health website includes facilities with 10 or more residents. Officials have confirmed cases in 47 different senior living homes, accounting for 3% of the positive tests in the state.
Eleven of the facilities named Saturday are in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, and four of them are in Ramsey County, which includes St. Paul. There have been cases reported at four centers in Washington County, which borders Ramsey County.
Kris Ehresmann, the Minnesota Department of Health's infectious disease director, said Saturday that 31 of the 47 facilities have reported one case, seven have reported two cases and nine have reported more than two cases. So far there have been 59 resident cases and 26 cases involving workers or staff, she said.
There have been a total of 13 deaths involving nine of the senior living centers.
"We're engaged with all these facilities immediately and we assign a nurse case manager," said Ehresmann, noting that many of the facilities face "challenges" with protective equipment and staff.
The number of positive COVID-19 tests throughout the state increased by 76 from Friday, for a total of 865 confirmed cases on Saturday, according to the health department.
The state's death toll from the coronavirus rose by two, for a total of 24. Officials said 95 people were hospitalized as of Saturday, an increase of nine, including two in intensive care.
More than 25,400 tests have been conducted, a third of them by the state's Public Health Lab and the rest completed by external laboratories.
The COVID-19 update link can be found on the state Health Department website at https://www.health.state.mn.us.
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