July 6 update on COVID-19 in MN: Pandemic in neutral as holiday data trickles in

A paper sign taped to a wall says "2 shots + 2 weeks = fully vaccinated."
Signs at Denfeld High School in Duluth encourage students to get a COVID-19 vaccine during a clinic at the school in May.
Dan Kraker | MPR News file

3 things to know

  • Active counts stay below 1,000 for two straight weeks

  • 67.2 percent of residents 16 and older have at least one vaccine shot; 64 percent are completely vaccinated

  • July 4 holiday slows reporting


Updated: 12:15 p.m.

Tuesday’s COVID-19 data continues to offer signs of a subdued pandemic in Minnesota, but COVID-19 watchers shouldn’t read too much into the newest numbers given reporting delays over the July 4 holiday weekend.

Known, active cases continue to trend at about 800. Hospital admissions and COVID-19 test positivity rates remain near April 2020 lows, although new daily cases and the positive test rate did tick up.

Tuesday’s data is essentially what would have been in Sunday's report. Wednesday's update will contain several days of data.

Metrics hover near pandemic lows

Known, active COVID-19 cases in Minnesota came in at 862 in Tuesday’s report. The state’s seen cases stay below 1,000 for two weeks now, part of a dramatic drop since May 1, when Minnesota had more than 15,000 active cases.

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Active, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnesota

Receding caseloads mean fewer hospitalizations. The latest Health Department numbers show 108 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Minnesota as of Thursday, the most recent data available.

Graph of new ICU and non-ICU COVID-19 hospitalizations
New ICU and non-ICU COVID-19 hospitalizations in Minnesota
David H. Montgomery | MPR News

Five newly reported deaths on Tuesday pushed Minnesota’s pandemic toll to 7,615. Among those who have died, about 59 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems.

New COVID-19 related deaths reported in Minnesota each day

The state has recorded 605,803 total confirmed or probable cases in the pandemic, including the 150 posted Tuesday.

New COVID-19 cases per day in Minnesota

Roughly 99 percent of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 have recovered to the point where they no longer need to isolate.

Regionally, all parts of Minnesota are in good shape, near record lows.

New COVID-19 cases by Minnesota region

People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the state’s largest number of confirmed cases — more than 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.

Vaccination pace crawls

Nearly 3 million residents 16 and older now have at least one vaccine dose as of Friday, the most recent available.

Graph showing total COVID-19 vaccinations by age

More than 2.8 million are completely vaccinated. That’s about 64 percent of the state’s 16-and-older population completely vaccinated and 67.2 percent with at least one shot, including 91 percent of people 65 and older.

Add in more than 109,000 12-to-15-year-olds with at least one dose and Minnesota has topped 3 million residents with one or more shots. About 52 percent of the state’s total population is now completely vaccinated.

A line chart.

While Minnesota’s vaccination rate recently showed an uptick, the pace has fallen dramatically since peaking in April and continues to trudge along.

At the current pace, it’ll be mid-August before Minnesota reaches the much-discussed milestone of having 70 percent of residents 16 and older with at least one vaccine dose.

Minnesota’s also seeing big regional gaps in vaccination rates, with most counties outside the Twin Cities region still below 70 percent of adults vaccinated.

Map of Minnesota COVID-19 eligible vaccination rate

State shifts COVID-19 reporting as pandemic ebbs

As caseloads and hospitalizations continue to fall toward zero, the Minnesota Health Department last week said it would make several notable changes to its COVID-19 data reporting.

Among the changes, Minnesota will:

  • Now report COVID-19 deaths by the actual date of death rather than the date the death was reported.

  • Stop posting updated data on weekends, starting July 10. Data posted on Mondays will be as of 4 a.m. on Fridays. Data posted on Tuesdays will be for the remainder of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and as of 4 a.m. on Monday, the agency said.

  • Stop updating and posting the 14-day case rate by county each week. School districts had used that data to guide decision-making on when to bring students back into school buildings.


Latest developments

Some Minnesota COVID business aid went unspent

A Minnesota program set up to give certain businesses a boost during the pandemic ended with only 75 percent of available money being spent.

Last December, state lawmakers approved $88 million for hospitality industry grants. The money was to go to breweries, recreational sports facilities, bars and restaurants and a few other types of businesses. The grants ranged from $10,000 to $45,000 and depended on typical employment levels.

State officials had contacted businesses to inform them of the program, which was predicated on helping establishments that saw a 30-percent drop in sales during a six-month window.

A new report from the Department of Revenue shows that $67 million of the total award was spent by a mid-March deadline. The rest was returned to the general treasury. About 3,900 businesses got a relief check. Two-thirds were restaurants. Most of the aid went out in January.

— 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.