June 22 update on COVID-19 in MN: Only 80 new cases; hospitalizations retreat
3 things to know
Active cases stay below 1,000; only 114 hospitalized
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: 11:37 a.m.
Minnesota’s newest COVID-19 data delivers more evidence the pandemic is firmly in check.
New cases, active cases and hospital admissions are all trending at levels not seen since the pandemic’s earliest weeks. The Minnesota Health Department on Tuesday reported only 80 new cases, the lowest daily count since early April 2020.
COVID-19 watchers are keeping an eye out now for any upticks as the state approaches one month since the end of all remaining statewide COVID-19 capacity limits on bars, restaurants and other public gathering spaces. So far, though, the signs are all good.
Pandemic recedes to April 2020 lows
Known, active COVID-19 cases in Minnesota dropped to 932 in Tuesday’s data, extending a stunning drop over the past seven weeks. On May 1, Minnesota had more than 15,000 active cases.
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The state’s averaged about 112 newly reported cases a day over the past week. Both newly reported and active caseloads continue to hover around lows reaching back to April 2020.
Receding caseloads mean fewer hospitalizations. The Health Department reported 114 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Minnesota — down by more than half from the start of this month — with 32 needing intensive care.
Public health leaders worried throughout the pandemic that Minnesota hospitals would end up overwhelmed. In late November, the state struggled with nearly 300 new COVID-19 hospital patients daily. Now it’s trending at 16 a day, the lowest since the pandemic’s early weeks.
One newly reported death on Tuesday pushed Minnesota’s pandemic toll to 7,550. 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 604,687 total confirmed or probable cases so far in the pandemic, including the 80 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 — about 112,000 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.
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.