Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Good trends persist, but vaccinations remain flat

3 things to know:

• Positive trends remain stable in the number of active cases, hospital admissions

• Daily vaccination trend remains flat week after week

• Government Tim Walz relaxes restrictions on restaurants and weddings

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Updated 12 hours

The latest Minnesota COVID-19 data continues to provide ample reason to be encouraged along the path of the pandemic. The main trend lines around the disease remain in the right direction – down.

For example, hospital admissions remain stable at the late September / early October levels, with 326 Minnesota hospitalized as of Thursday and 73 requiring intensive care. The number of new hospital admissions remains low compared to the increase at the end of November / early December.

Known active caseloads are ticking above 8,000 cases, but the trendline remains at levels not seen since late September. New cases reported were a fairly modest 1058.

The overall vaccination rate is still flat after falling after a rise in late January. The state reported more than 31,000 new vaccinations on Friday, fewer than the Friday before. As the supply of federal vaccines increases, this could be a pause for a resurgence.

Friday’s data came minutes after Governor Tim Walz OK’d increased the number of people allowed into restaurants and at weddings and other private gatherings as the pandemic picture improves and vaccinations seem to be heading in the right direction.

About 11.1 percent of Minnesota had received at least one dose as of Wednesday, and about 3.4 percent had been fully vaccinated. About 30 percent of Minnesotans aged 65 and older have now been vaccinated.

Officials have highlighted in recent weeks that the relatively low flow of the federal government’s vaccine supplies is the biggest problem holding it back against vaccination speed. There is data to back that up.

However, according to data collected by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state was ranked 29th among states in doses administered per 100,000 people.

Hoping to speed up the effort, the health department has opened massive vaccination sites in the Twin Cities, Rochester and Duluth and posted information on its online vaccine finder.

Nineteen deaths reported on Thursday increased the Minnesota toll to 6,362. Of those who died, about 63 percent lived in long-term care or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems.

The state has registered 471,851 confirmed or probable cases of the pandemic so far. About 97 percent of the minnesotans known to have been infected with COVID-19 during the pandemic have recovered to the point where they no longer need to be isolated.

State officials continue to warn that the hopeful trends are still weak, noting that new strains of viruses are arriving in the United States, including two cases from the Brazilian strain and 18 from the British variant in Minnesota.

Cases spread across age groups, regions

People in their 20s are still the age bracket with the highest number of confirmed cases in the state – more than 89,000 since the start of the pandemic, including more than 47,000 among people 20 to 24 years old.

The number of young people in high school confirmed with the disease has also risen, with more than 36,000 cases in the 15 to 19 age group since the start of the pandemic.

While less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up in hospital, experts are concerned that youth and young adults will unwittingly spread it to older family members and members of other vulnerable populations.

People can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 if they don’t have symptoms.

Cases are declining in all regions of the state after an outage in late December, early January.

Caseloads are still heaviest among people of color

In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 has disproportionately hit communities of color in both cases and deaths. This was especially the case for minnesotans of Spanish descent during much of the pandemic.

Even as the number of new cases continues to drop from their late November to early December peaks, the data shows that Latino people are still being hit hard.

Distrust of the government, along with deep-seated health and economic inequalities, have hampered efforts to encourage testing among colored communities, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information could be used to deport them.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm also recognized the need on Thursday to ensure that vaccination options are distributed fairly.

Malcolm said the state will soon release data on vaccinations, race and ethnicity. Officials say they are trying to improve data quality. Under state law, it is shared voluntarily and thus can be inconsistent.

‘We are now in a better place’

Malcolm and infectious diseases director Kris Ehresmann spent much of the pandemic warning people that the pandemic is not over and could worsen quickly if Minnesota did not remain vigilant.

But even on Thursday, they said the current situation looks pretty good.

The seven-day average of COVID-19 tests that come back positive – a key indicator of whether the disease is spreading out of control – has fallen below 3 percent, roughly where it was in late June. Officials are concerned about 5 percent or more.

“We are now in a better place than we have for quite some time now,” Kris Ehresmann, the director of the state infectious diseases, told Thursday in a surprisingly optimistic review.

She and Malcolm were quick to point out that strains of viruses from Brazil and the UK remain of concern. Ehresmann said it is still important to wear masks in public gathering areas, at a social distance, and otherwise remain vigilant against the spread of the virus and its variants.

She also now warned against unnecessary travel, despite the freezing weather and some Minnesota’s desire to go south.

Otherwise, they may have been more positive than they were in months about Minnesota’s location on the pandemic arc. Ehresmann said, “We are closer than ever to the end.”

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COVID-19 in Minnesota

The data in these charts is based on Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released daily at 11 a.m. You can find more detailed statistics about COVID-19 at it Health Department website

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