MinnPost provides updates on coronavirus in Minnesota Sunday through Friday. The information is published following a press phone call with members of the Walz administration or after the release of daily COVID-19 figures by the Minnesota Department of Health.
Here are the latest updates from January 29, 2021:
Twenty-eight more Minnesotans have died of COVID-19, the Minnesota Department of Health said Friday, for a total of 6,168.
Of the people whose deaths were announced Friday, one was in their 90s, 14 were in their 80s, five were in their 70s, four were in their 60s, two were in their 50s and two were in their 40s. Eleven of the 28 people whose deaths announced Friday were residents of long-term care facilities.
MDH also said Friday there have been 459,747 total cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota. That number is up 1,114 from the total announced on Thursday and is based on 44,777 new tests. The seven-day positive case average, which lags by a week, is now 4.8 percent. That’s a hair below a 5-percent threshold the state considers a sign of concerning disease spread. The positivity rate has trended downward for two weeks.
The state says 345,636 Minnesotans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, the most recent data reported. That is roughly 6.3 percent of the state population. MDH reports 96,842 Minnesotans have completed a two-dose vaccine regimen.
The most recent data available show 95 Minnesotans are hospitalized in intensive care with COVID-19, and 355 are in the hospital with COVID-19 not in intensive care. Both numbers are down slightly from data reported Thursday. You can find more information about Minnesota’s current ICU usage and capacity here.
More information on cases can be found here.
Today on MinnPost
- Gov. Tim Walz’s ‘tax the rich’ plan doesn’t just tax the rich.
- Why federal grants may set rural broadband in some areas of Minnesota back for years.
- Asking yourself how long it’s been since this all started? Us too.
- As always, a look at the numbers on the MinnPost COVID-19 dashboard.
Around the web
- One-dose shot offers good protection, new hope against virus, reports the Associated Press.
- Why grocery chains are paying workers to get vaccinated, but other industries are lagging. Story by the Washington Post.
MDH’s coronavirus website: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/index.html
MDH’s phone line for COVID-19 questions, Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m: 651-297-1304
