Minnesota saw a roughly 40 percent jump overnight in COVID-19 patients that were currently hospitalized or in critical condition because of the coronavirus.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported Thursday that 38 patients were in critical condition, up from 27 on Wednesday. There are now 75 people hospitalized up from 54 a day ago.
Since the outbreak began, 138 people have been hospitalized and 18 have died, including a 69-year-old Hennepin County resident whose death was reported Thursday.
In contrast, 337 patients, or 45 percent of Minnesotans infected with the coronavirus, have recovered and no longer need to be isolated.
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State health officials are closely watching the percentage of COVID-19 patients who require hospitalization as Minnesota braces for a surge of infections in the coming weeks. Leaders’ biggest concern is there won’t be enough protective gear for hospital workers and medical equipment to treat critically ill patients.
That’s why Gov. Tim Walz has ordered most residents to “Stay at Home” and closed schools and many businesses to slow the spread and give medical providers time to get ready. He’s also preparing to ask President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster here and open up access to federal aid for the state.
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State leaders plan to release an online “dashboard” as soon as Friday that will give residents more information about the state’s medical supplies. Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said her agency spent the last week gathering data on what supplies hospitals currently have.
“They are not nearly as robust as they need to be,” Malcolm said, noting that some care providers may have to make sacrifices when it comes to how equipment is used. “There is going to be a gap between the ideal recommendations and what is possible.”
Gov. Walz and Malcolm assured health care workers the state was doing “everything in our power” to obtain the needed supplies, but there are national and global shortages. On Wednesday, Walz and Malcolm criticized the federal government’s failure to make enough testing supplies available to the states.
Minnesota reported another 53 coronavirus cases Thursday, putting the statewide total at 742. Patients have been identified in 56 of Minnesota’s 87 counties and most of the infections are in the Twin Cities metro.
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Hennepin County has the most cases with 235, followed by Ramsey County with 67, Dakota County with 52 cases and Washington County with 46.
Minnesota has tested nearly 23,000 patients for the virus with 8,580 test being done at the state Department of Health laboratory and more than 13,800 at private labs.
Lab-confirmed cases range in age from four months to 104-years-old. The median age of all patients is 47 and the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are among elderly residents.
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