The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting 794 new COVID-19 cases today and three new deaths attributed to the virus, bringing the state’s case count to 455,783 and the death toll to 6,098.
Of all deaths, 3,876 were residents of long-term care or assisted living facilities. Of all cases, 35,595 were health care workers.
Today’s data comes after around 21,000 tests were completed yesterday. Over 3.214 million Minnesotans have been tested for COVID-19, with 6.388 million tests completed.
Over 439,000 of the state’s COVID patients no longer need isolation.
MDH is reporting four new cases in Beltrami County today, one new case in Cass County and four new cases in Hubbard County.
COVID-19 case rates in north-central Minnesota appear to be slightly increasing. According to the latest data from the state, for the two-week period ending Jan. 9, Beltrami County’s case rate increased by about five points, to 37.51 cases per 10,000 people.
As of Friday, Beltrami Public Health reported they were monitoring 79 cases, with six of those patients hospitalized. Since the pandemic began, Beltrami County has had 3,157 cases and 48 deaths, with at least 3,000 of those cases out of isolation.
For the same two-week period ending Jan. 9, Cass County’s COVID-19 case rate per 10,000 people increased by about two points to 41.69 and Hubbard County’s rate increased by eight points to 34.51.
Clearwater County’s rate actually dropped about five points to 32.91. Clearwater County’s population is 8,821 according to the latest Census data, so each new COVID-19 case carries more mathematical weight in a formula of new cases relative to the population.
