June 21 update on COVID-19 in MN: Active cases fall below 1K as pandemic retreats
3 things to know
Active cases drop below 1,000; hospitalizations ebbing
New cases trending at April 2020 lows
66.4 percent of residents 16 and older with at least one vaccine shot; 62.5 percent completely vaccinated
Updated: 11:54 a.m.
Monday’s COVID-19 data offers more evidence the pandemic is in check in Minnesota. Known active cases fell below 1,000 for the first time since the earliest weeks of the pandemic.
Daily case counts remain at levels not seen since April 2020 — only 100 new cases were reported on Monday. Hospitalizations and ICU needs are ebbing.
The vaccination pace, though, remains vexingly slow. At the current rate, it will be early August before the state reaches its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the 16-and-older population.
New, active cases at mid-April 2020 lows
Known, active COVID-19 cases in Minnesota dropped to 982 in Monday’s data, extending a stunning drop over the past seven weeks. On May 1, Minnesota had more than 15,000 such cases.
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The state’s averaged about 115 newly reported cases a day over the past week. Both newly reported and active caseloads continue to hover around lows reaching back to mid-April 2020.
Receding caseloads lead to fewer hospitalizations. Daily hospital admissions are trending near their lowest point since data collection began in the weeks after the first COVID-19 case was discovered in Minnesota last year.
The Health Department reported 139 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Minnesota as of Friday — down by half from the start of this month — with 44 needing intensive care.
Four newly reported deaths on Monday pushed Minnesota’s pandemic toll to 7,549. 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 604,608 total confirmed or probable cases so far in the pandemic, including the 100 posted Monday.
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.
3 million vaccinated, but pace crawls
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’s about 62.5 percent completely vaccinated and 66.4 percent with at least one shot, including 90 percent of people 65 and older.
Add in the more than 101,000 12-to-15-year-olds with at least one dose and Minnesota has topped 3 million residents with one or more shots. More than half the state’s total population is now completely vaccinated.
The vaccination pace, however, is tripping along at this point. It will be early August before the state reaches 70 percent of adults with at least one shot, a goal public health leaders once hoped could by reached by the end of June.
Minnesota’s also seeing big regional gaps in vaccination rates, with most counties outside the Twin Cities region still below 70 percent.
There has been progress: Houston, Carlton and Scott counties recently crossed 70 percent. With Scott reaching that threshold, Anoka is the only Twin Cities area county still lagging.
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.