It was about as close to an all-clear signal as you’ll get from Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. Going over the latest COVID-19 data Thursday, she told reporters the state appears to have dodged a feared post-holiday spike in COVID-19 cases.
Public health leaders had worried that gatherings of family and friends for Christmas and New Year’s Eve would deliver a wave of cases three or four weeks later. But new caseloads stayed modest, as they did following Thanksgiving.
“While we could still see an increase in cases as a result of the New Year's holiday in particular, the evidence does suggest that we may have already seen our post-holiday spike, that thankfully it was a modest and manageable one,” Malcolm told reporters.
It was hopeful news in an otherwise mixed day for COVID-19 numbers. The Health Department reported the count of intensive care patients had fallen below 100 for the first time in four months. But the agency also confirmed Minnesota had passed 6,000 deaths in the pandemic.
Here are Minnesota’s current COVID-19 statistics:
6,011 deaths (32 more)
450,762 positive cases (1,292 new), 433,722 off isolation (96 percent)
6.2 million tests, 3.2 million people tested (about 56 percent of the population)
4.4 percent seven-day positive test rate (officials find 5 percent or more concerning)
The 1,292 newly confirmed or probable cases posted Thursday put Minnesota at 450,762 confirmed cases in the pandemic. Of those, about 96 percent of people have recovered to the point they no longer need to be isolated.
Even as the overall pandemic numbers continue to improve, Minnesota officials face a new difficult challenge to get Minnesotans inoculated as quickly as possible.
There is far more demand for vaccine than supply and the state is struggling to gain traction in its efforts to get shots into arms.
About 12,000 doses — roughly 20 percent of Minnesota’s current weekly allocation — are being distributed to nine sites around the state, part of a pilot program intended to speed vaccinations to people 65 and older as well as to educators and child care workers.
But the online booking process that launched at noon Tuesday quickly became overwhelmed, getting more than 1 million hits by early afternoon.
The first-day problems created serious frustration for many. Stories of unhappy seniors trying but failing to secure an appointment online or by phone bubbled across social media.
Officials said later the state anticipates providing first-dose shots to all 12,000 people — 6,000 seniors and 6,000 educators and child care providers — who have appointments at pilot clinics this weekend.
As of Monday, Minnesota has administered first doses to more than 200,000 people across the state, and 41,984 have received their second dose, according to the state's dashboard.
That’s from about 610,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine that have been shipped to Minnesota so far, including the federal program for long-term care facility vaccinations.
Officials are tempering optimism about supplies increasing under the Biden administration with caution that the needed volume is not here yet.
“Vaccine demand is certain to outpace available doses at this time” so Minnesotans will need to be patient, Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director, said Tuesday. “We do not have enough vaccine for everyone who wants one, but we’re working hard to build a community vaccination system” to respond once the federal government delivers more.
Minnesota health officials on Thursday also called for expanded COVID-19 testing, urging K-12 and college students returning to campus, along with kids playing youth sports and anyone else “who regularly interacts with people outside of their family unit or household” be tested.
The move expands the number of people the state says should get a test.
While everyone returning to school should get tested, it’s especially important for people ages 12 to 25 because they’re so active, said Dan Huff, a Minnesota Health Department assistant commissioner.
Getting tested should be a “family affair,” he added, noting (not incorrectly) that “most children do like to spit.”
People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the state’s largest number of confirmed cases — more than 85,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 45,000 among people ages 20 to 24.
The number of high school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with nearly 35,000 total cases among those ages 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.
Although less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts worry youth and young adults will spread it to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.
It’s of particular concern because people can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 when they don’t have symptoms.
Caseloads continue to trend down across all regions of the state following a late December, early January blip.
Hot spots continue to pop up in rural counties relative to their population.
In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 has hit communities of color disproportionately hard in both cases and deaths. That’s been especially true for Minnesotans of Hispanic descent for much of the pandemic.
Even as new case counts ease from their late November, early December peaks, the data shows people of color continue to be hit hardest.
Distrust of the government, together with deeply rooted health and economic disparities, have hampered efforts to boost testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information may be used to deport them.
Similar trends have been seen among Minnesota’s Indigenous residents. Counts among Indigenous people jumped in October relative to population.
The cold-storage facility Minnesota purchased for use as a possible COVID-19 morgue won’t be used to hold vaccine, a top state official said Thursday.
Doses shipped to the state go directly to medical sites for use as fast as possible, and putting them in a warehouse would run counter to that purpose, Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter told the Senate Finance Committee.
The facility in St. Paul was retrofitted to house human remains if funeral homes were overwhelmed by coronavirus deaths. Schowalter says it hasn’t come to that, although some extra protective equipment has landed there.
“It was being used to hold some other items,” Schowalter said. “We’re happy it is not holding bodies. That is the entire purpose of our effort to make sure that cold-storage facility is not holding dead people. And we’re happy for it.”
Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, agreed that it would be a mistake to use it for vaccine holding. It lacks the proper equipment to keep the vaccine at ultra-cold temperatures, so that would require expensive upgrades.
“That would be an investment — I don’t think a wise investment — based on how fast we need to get vaccine out,” she said. “I don’t think the building is appropriate to be used for vaccine and I hope that we can quell that now.”
Minnesota paid about $7 million for the facility, with about $4 million of that reimbursed by the federal government. Throughout the pandemic, some cities and states have had to resort to refrigerator trucks to hold remains because their traditional morgues ran out of space; Gov. Tim Walz said he wanted to make sure remains were dealt with in a dignified manner.
Some Republican lawmakers have suggested selling the building.
“I understand if it would have gotten to the point where we needed something like that it would be considered pretty good planning,” said Sen. Bill Ingebritsen, R-Alexandria. “However, if it has not been used or if it is sitting and being utilized for something else, we need to know that.”
If the state does that, it likely would have to repay some money to the federal government.
— Brian Bakst | MPR News
Minnesota lost nearly 50,000 jobs in December with pandemic rules in place: More than 80 percent of the job losses in December were in the leisure and hospitality sector. But the DEED reported that there are signs that many of December's job losses may be short-term. The agency said a survey of people who lost jobs in December found that just 10 percent said their job loss was permanent.
Why some providers in Minnesota are getting vaccinated and some aren’t: As the state expands who is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, some health care providers say they still don’t know how and when they will get theirs. Demographics, vaccine supply and inconsistent rules are adding to the confusion.
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.