No Local COVID-19 Deaths Among Eight Reported Statewide Tuesday

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(KNSI) – The St. Cloud area adds 61 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday with no newly reported deaths. Statewide, Minnesota sees 727 new cases and eight deaths.

Stearns County adds the highest number of new cases: 23. Benton County confirms six, Morrison County two, Sherburne County 12 and Wright County 18.

The state processed 10,929 tests Monday for a test positivity rate of 6.7 percent.

Hospitalizations in the area — like hospitalizations across the state — are coming down. Per the latest analysis of HHS data by the University of Minnesota Hospitalization Tracking Project, in the week of January 15th to the 21st, Wright County had 17.4 percent of its hospital beds in use for COVID-19 patients, ranking third among Minnesota counties with the highest COVID-19 bed capacities that week. Rock County is the highest with 18.8 percent of its hospital beds in use for COVID-19, and Ramsey County second at 17.7.

For Stearns County, 4.7 percent of its hospital beds are in use by COVID-19 patients. People being treated for COVID-19 occupy almost one-quarter (23.9 percent) of Stearns’ available ICU beds. In Morrison County, 7.7 percent of hospital beds were in use for COVID-19.

A number that is locally increasing: people vaccinated for COVID-19. According to the Minnesota Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 vaccination data from Sunday, across the five-county area, 17,745 people have received one dose. An additional 4,302 have gotten both shots of the vaccine. Stearns County has the highest percentage of its population vaccinated, compared to other St. Cloud-area counties; 4.8 percent of the county’s population has received one dose, and 1.2 have received the full vaccine series.