MDH Reports 1,163 COVID Cases, 5 Deaths Wednesday

(KNSI) – New COVID-19 cases in Minnesota continue to stay just above 1,000 per day, with the Minnesota Department of Health confirming 1,163 new cases and five deaths Wednesday.

Those positive cases were found out of 23,797 COVID tests processed across the state on Tuesday; the one-day test positivity rate is 4.9 percent, just dipping below the MDH’s caution threshold marking significant community spread of the virus.

According to the CDC’s metrics for community spread, almost all Minnesota counties are experiencing substantial or high community transmission of COVID-19. The five counties in the St. Cloud area — Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright — are all considered high transmission counties.

Out of the 1,163 new cases reported Wednesday, 71 of those cases were found in the five-county area.

Across the state, 461 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19. Roughly a quarter of those patients are in the ICU.

Meanwhile, 3,259,492 Minnesotans have received at least one COVID-19 shot to date. That’s 69.3 percent of the state’s residents who are 12 and older. Vaccinations have ticked up in recent weeks amid the state’s fourth wave of COVID cases. Doses administered in August are set to exceed July’s vaccination effort. So far, 120,548 vaccinations have been given to Minnesotans in August; in July, 178,729 shots were doled out to Minnesotans, the lowest amount administered in a month since the very start of vaccine distribution in December 2020.

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