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Minnesota deaths tied to COVID-19 climbed to 1,040 Sunday, and health officials said they expected a spike in cases after nearly a week of massive demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in the Twin Cities. 

The number of Minnesotans currently in intensive care rose to 257, even as total daily hospitalizations dipped to 555. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm recently noted that intensive care beds were filling up in the Twin Cities metro area. 

Officials continue to pay close attention to the daily intensive care counts, a key metric, as they work to manage the spread of the disease so it doesn’t overwhelm the state’s health care system.

Malcolm said that while she understands the pain and anger people are feeling over Floyd’s killing and respects their desire to protest, she’s concerned that people gathering in the streets are at risk of getting the virus and transmitting it. 

Massive protests raise fears of new virus outbreaks

The large demonstrations are “almost sure to have an impact on furthering spread,” she said earlier in the week. 

Malcolm reiterated her plea for people to wear masks and socially distance but acknowledged doing those things will be very difficult in the situation that’s playing out in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

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Asked whether she was happy so far with the state's 

 to stop the spread of the virus in long-term care facilities, Malcolm said there are some emerging bright spots in the numbers.

She said a few facilities have no cases at all, and roughly half that do have cases have only one or two. And, over half of those facilities no longer have any cases. 

In the larger facilities that have had a lot of cases, Malcolm said a third of them have had no new cases in a week.

"That, too, is a measure of success,” she said, “How well are facilities able to manage cases and how good a job are we doing in supporting them in doing that."

Malcolm acknowledged that the number of deaths in long-term care facilities is unacceptably high, but also suggested that Minnesota may be posting higher numbers in this area because the state is counting these deaths differently from other states.

She noted that other states don't count someone from a long-term care facility who dies of COVID-19 in a hospital as a "long-term care facility death." Minnesota does.

Many of the recent outbreaks outside the Twin Cities metro area are focused around meatpacking plants. Officials have intensified testing in those hot spots, uncovering more infections.

In southwestern Minnesota’s Nobles County, where an outbreak hit Worthington’s massive JBS pork plant, about 1 in 15 people have tested positive for COVID-19. In mid-April, there were just a handful of cases. By Saturday, there were 1,512 confirmed cases, although the numbers are rising at a much slower rate than in previous weeks.

 with expanded hygiene and health monitoring measures.

, where COVID-19 cases tied to two packing plants — Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Cold Spring and Jennie-O Turkey in Melrose — have skyrocketed.

An undisclosed number of workers at both plants have tested positive for the virus. There were about 55 confirmed cases in Stearns County two weeks ago. By Sunday, confirmed cases were at 2,021 with 13 deaths.

Kandiyohi County in west-central Minnesota is also seeing cases continue to climb more than a month after officials with the Jennie-O turkey processing plant there said some employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. The county had confirmed three COVID-19 cases then.

On Sunday, the Health Department reported 496 people have now tested positive.

While the counts in those counties are high relative to their population, officials say the growth in new cases in those areas appears to be stabilizing.

Contact tracers key to slowing the spread of COVID-19. Meet one of them:

 Effective testing and contact tracing are considered critical components of managing the spread of COVID-19. The job of contact tracing can mean long hours and stressful conversations.

Data in these graphs are based off Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at the 

The coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, coughs and sneezes, similar to the way the flu can spread.

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Minnesota and the Upper Midwest

How it compares with other diseases in 5 charts

Government and medical leaders are urging people to wash their hands frequently and well, refrain from touching their faces, cover their coughs, disinfect surfaces and avoid large crowds, all in an effort to curb the virus’ rapid spread.

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After nearly a week of massive protests over the killing of George Floyd in the Twin Cities, health officials said they expected a spike in cases stemming from the gatherings. 

May 31 update on COVID-19 in MN: As state surpasses 1K deaths, protests raise fears of new outbreaks

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