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 February 1, 2021:
462,528 cases; 6,202 deaths
Two more Minnesotans have died of COVID-19, the Minnesota Department of Health said Monday, for a total of 6,202.
Of the people whose deaths were announced Monday, one was in their 90s and one was in their 50s. One of the two people whose deaths announced Monday was a resident of a long-term care facility.
MDH also said Monday there have been 462,528 total cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota. That number is up 721 from the total announced on Sunday and is based on 21,432 new tests. The most recent seven-day case positivity average, which lags by a week, is 4.8 percent, below the 5 percent “caution” threshold. You can find the seven-day positive case average here.
As of Saturday, the most recent day of data available, 441,922 in Minnesota, or about 8 percent of the population, had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 116,248 had received two doses.
The most recent data available show 92 Minnesotans are hospitalized in intensive care with COVID-19, and 295 are in the hospital with COVID-19 not in intensive care. You can find more information about Minnesota’s current ICU usage and capacity here.
More information on cases can be found here.
Minnesota will vaccinate more seniors through providers
Starting this week, Minnesota will make more COVID-19 vaccinations available through health care providers in Minnesota, according to an announcement from Gov. Tim Walz Monday.
“The goal here is to improve access closer to home,” Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a press briefing Monday. While not all health care providers currently have vaccines, a new map on MDH’s website shows providers that do.
As vaccinators wrap up health care providers and long-term care workers and residents, 35,000 vaccines will be available to those 65 and older through health care providers and state vaccine clinics this week. More data on vaccinations can be found here.
The state is reducing the number of vaccine sites it runs. Through a pilot program, Minnesota ran nine vaccine pilot sites around the state designed to give vaccine access to seniors, school and childcare workers.
“Following the successful two-week pilot to test community vaccination clinics around the state, Minnesota is now standing up two large-scale, permanent community vaccination sites in Minneapolis and Duluth. A third location in southern Minnesota will launch next week and potential additional locations may launch in the near future,” a statement from Walz’s office says.
The names of more than 220,000 Minnesotans ages 65 and up who registered for the state’s vaccine pilot site lottery system will remain on the list as Minnesota selects people to book appointments at the state’s vaccination sites.
Minnesotans who received their first COVID-19 vaccine doses at a pilot site will receive their second doses at the same site.
School and child care workers will be contacted if they are eligible for a vaccine. They will be vaccinated at the Minneapolis vaccination site and at local public health sites across the state, and at pharmacies in Brainerd, St. Cloud and Rochester.
Today on MinnPost
- What Michael Osterholm has learned one year in to the pandemic
- Mental health supports help rural care providers weather a COVID surge
- 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
- The ‘Dr. Fauci’ of the Texas Border Is Counting the Dead, New York Times.
- ‘It’s just a matter of time’: Inmates detail horrid conditions amid COVID spike in Oregon prisons, the Oregonian.
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
Thank you, Greta Kaul. I admit I don’t read your updates every day. I appreciate your doing them, though. Whenever I want to be updated, this is a great resource!