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 March 16, 2021:
498,926 cases; 6,749 deaths
Two more Minnesotans have died of COVID-19, the Minnesota Department of Health said Tuesday, for a total of 6,749.
Of the people whose deaths were announced Tuesday, one was in their 80s and one was in their 60s. None of the people whose deaths announced Tuesday were residents of long-term care facilities.
The state has reported an average of 7.6 deaths per day over the last week, which is down slightly from a rate of about 10 deaths per day the week prior. (This does not include a backlog of 138 deaths added to the state data March 9.)
MDH also said Tuesday there have been 498,926 total cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota. That number is up 708 from the total announced on Monday and is based on 11,834 new tests. The seven-day positive case average, which lags by a week, is 3.9 percent. That’s up from 3.6 percent in data reported Monday, but still below the 5-percent threshold state officials consider a bad sign of disease spread.
Minnesota’s most recent vaccination data show 1,265,430 residents, about 22.7 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That’s up 4,659 from data reported Monday — the smallest increase in weeks. Minnesota has reported an average increase of 25,500 people per day who have gotten at least one shot of a vaccine over the last week.
Now 729,294 Minnesotans have completed a full vaccine series, meaning they received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or got the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The most recent data available show 59 Minnesotans are hospitalized in intensive care with COVID-19, and 201 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.
Today on MinnPost
- Minnesota is getting $550 million in stimulus money for child care. Now comes the hard part: deciding how to spend it.
- The Minnesota Orchestra will offer in-person concerts in June.
- 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
- Moderna has begun a COVID-19 vaccine trial for young children, according to a story in KARE 11.
- EU regulator ‘convinced’ AstraZeneca benefit outweighs risk, reports the Associated Press.
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
Perhaps it would be worth a phone call to the health dept. about the apparent drastic slowdown in vaccines noted in the story. Could be a spreadsheet error or some other glitch.