St. Cloud Area Reports Three COVID-19 Deaths, 88 Cases Friday

(KNSI) – The Minnesota Department of Health reports 690 new COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths across the state Friday.

Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties recorded one death each in Friday’s count; those three deaths include a person who was in their 60s, one in their 70s and one in their 80s. Nine of the deaths reported today were long-term care residents.

Around the St. Cloud area, 88 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day: six in Benton County, two in Morrison County, 25 in Sherburne, 20 in Stearns and 31 in Wright.

The state processed 27,261 COVID-19 tests on Thursday, and only 2.5 percent of those tests came back positive.

Friday is also Minnesota’s first day in several weeks where fewer than 400 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19. Right now, there are 396 COVID patients in the state’s hospitals — 116 of them are in the ICU.

The MDH reports that, as of Wednesday, more than 2.8 million Minnesotans have gotten at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. That’s 50.4 percent of the state’s population and 62.7 percent of people 16 and older.

Friday’s new vaccination numbers include a one-time backlog of vaccinations given by Iowa health partners to Minnesotans.

COVID-19 inoculation among people in the St. Cloud area who are 16 and older is behind the statewide average: 49.4 percent of adults in the area have received at least one dose.

Stearns County has the highest vaccination rate in the area, having 55 percent of residents 16 and older vaccinated. Benton County still has the lowest vaccination rate in the entire state, with 37 percent of its adult population vaccinated against COVID-19.

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