June 15 update on COVID-19 in MN: New and active cases, hospitalizations retreat
3 things to know
New and active case counts lowest since April 2020
65.8 percent of 16-and-older population with at least one vaccine shot; 61.4 percent completely vaccinated
At current pace, state may not meet goal of 70 percent vaccinated adults until August
Updated: 4 p.m.
Tuesday’s COVID-19 numbers show the lowest count of new daily cases in Minnesota since the pandemic’s earliest weeks. Active cases and hospitalizations are receding quickly.
Officials had worried the end of the statewide masking mandate on May 14 might lead to an uptick in COVID-19 cases, but the data shows the pandemic continuing to ebb. The state Health Department reported only 95 new cases Tuesday and one death.
The vaccination pace, however, has slowed to a trickle. After targeting July 1 as the date to get at least one dose into 70 percent of the 16-and-older population, it looks now like that won’t happen until early August.
Minnesota is also showing some big regional divides in vaccination rates.
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New, active cases trend at April 2020 lows
Overall, the basic numbers continue to show a brightening pandemic picture.
The state’s averaged 156 new cases a day over the past seven reporting days, the lowest since April 2020. Known, active cases of the disease came in at 1,265, continuing to hover around lows from late-April 2020.
How quickly have conditions improved? On May 1, Minnesota was averaging more than 1,500 new cases daily and had more than 15,000 known, active cases.
COVID-19 hospitalizations also continue to slide from their spring peaks. The Health Department reported 147 people hospitalized in Minnesota, with 49 in intensive care.
Daily intensive care admissions are near their lowest point since data collection began in the weeks last year after the first COVID-19 case was discovered. There have never been fewer people hospitalized here with the disease since data started being reliably tracked last summer.
One death newly reported on Tuesday pushed Minnesota’s pandemic toll to 7,518. Among those who have died, about 59 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted-living facilities; most had underlying health problems.
The state has recorded 603,966 total confirmed or probable cases so far in the pandemic, including the 95 posted Tuesday.
About 99 percent of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point where they no longer need to isolate.
Case counts had crept up across the state during April following a massive spike in late November and early December. Now, though, the numbers are low and falling in every age group and region.
People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the state’s largest number of confirmed cases — more than 111,000 since the pandemic began.
Although young people are less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts worry they can spread it unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.
Vaccination pace stumbles along
Tuesday’s report showed more than 2.9 million residents 16 and older now have at least one vaccine dose. More than 2.7 million are completely vaccinated.
That works out to about 61.4 percent completely vaccinated and 65.8 percent with at least one shot, including 90 percent of people 65 and older.
The vaccination pace, however, is tripping along now after tumbling from its April peak. If the pace continues to languish, it will be early August before the state reaches 70 percent of adults with at least one shot.
Officials recently noted that more than 70 percent of the 16-and-older population in the Twin Cities metropolitan area had received at least one vaccine dose, but that the rate was below 60 percent in much of the rest of the state, creating a concerning urban-rural vaccination gap.
Minnesota has seen notable growth in the number of children ages 12 to 15 getting vaccinated since mid-May when federal authorities approved the Pfizer vaccine for use at those ages.
Health Department data shows more than 95,000 12-to-15-year-olds with at least one dose, about 33 percent of that population. The pace, though, has fallen off following an early surge.
The latest available data also shows just under 70 percent of Minnesotans of Asian descent have been vaccinated. Given the reporting lag for data on race and ethnicity, it’s likely that population has already become the first to cross the 70-percent threshold.
Latest Developments
Walz extends emergency power, possibly for last time
Gov. Tim Walz on Monday made what could be a final extension of his peacetime emergency around COVID-19.
The emergency declaration frees up more federal aid for nutrition programs and allows for flexible operations of vaccination and testing programs. Almost all restrictions on businesses have been lifted already.
The executive council of top statewide officeholders signed off on the 30-day renewal.
Vaccinations and coronavirus immunity should stamp out serious spread of the disease at this point but there could be places where infection rates climb back up, Walz said.
— Brian Bakst | MPR News
COVID-19 in Minnesota
Data in these graphs are based on the Minnesota Department of Health's cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at the Health Department website.