Minnesota Health Leaders Warn of COVID-19 Case, Hospitalization Uptick in Recent Weeks

(KNSI) – During March, Minnesota made significant process in vaccinating its 16-and-older population against COVID-19, doling out 1,346,507 doses last month. About 42 percent of eligible Minnesotans have received at least one vaccine dose, as of Sunday; that percentage is 82.7 among seniors age 65 and older.

However, Minnesota health leaders are pointing to a rise in new COVID-19 cases over the same time period. Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says over the previous 25 days, the state’s case rate per 100,000 people has been increasing.

“We’ve seen 2.5 percent more cases than the week prior, up from a 2.2 percent increase the week before that,” Malcolm said. “The weekly change in testing is 2.8 percent.”

While Malcolm says the MDH has reason to believe that this recent increase in new cases won’t lead to a spike as severe as what the state saw in November and December 2020, proliferating cases of the more transmissible B117 COVID-19 variant are causing concern.

“What we have seen is the test positivity rate is increasing in all age groups,” Malcolm said. “Also, concerningly, the percentage of cases that are ending in hospitalization [are] also trending up in all age groups.”

The latest data from the MDH shows that 497 people in Minnesota are hospitalized with COVID-19 — 114 of those patients are in the ICU.

“Bed use is up by 40 percent just in the last 10 days,” Malcolm said.

Now that many seniors are vaccinated, the average age of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 is trending downward.

“Between March 23rd and 29th, it was 57 versus 65 for the whole pandemic,” state epidemiologist Dr. Ruth Lynfield said of the average age of Minnesotans hospitalized for COVID-19. “Similarly, the median age for deaths is also dropping; for the whole pandemic, it was age 83, and in March, it was 78.”

Malcolm says most Minnesotans are not yet vaccinated, so measures like wearing face masks, social distancing and getting tested are important until herd immunity through vaccination keeps COVID-19 at bay.

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