Northland surpasses 1,000 COVID-19 cases in past week

The Northland recorded 1,101 cases of COVID-19 in its 10-county region Sept. 17-23. This is the first time seven-day case totals have exceeded 1,000 since Dec. 18-24, 2020. Last week, there were 950 cases recorded in the region.

There were five COVID-19-related deaths recorded in the Northland this week, according to the Minnesota Department of Health and Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Two deaths were in St. Louis County. Carlton, Itasca and Bayfield counties each recorded one COVID-19-related death.

St. Louis County Public Health recorded 29 COVID-19 patient hospitalizations since Sept. 16, nearly doubling the amount of patients hospitalized in September. Eleven COVID-19 patients have been admitted to the intensive care unit in St. Louis County this month, an increase of three from last week.

New cases in Northland counties Sept. 17-23:

• Aitkin — 38.
• Carlton — 87.
• Cook — 4.
• Itasca — 141.
• Koochiching — 94.
• Lake — 23.
• St. Louis — 611.
• Ashland — 36.
• Bayfield — 16.
• Douglas — 51.

Of the 1,101 new cases in the Northland this week, 611 were in St. Louis County, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Last week, there were 499 cases in the county.

New cases in St. Louis County cities Sept. 17-23, according to St. Louis County Public Health:

• Duluth — 237.
• Hibbing — 56.
• Virginia — 51.
• Chisholm — 33.
• Eveleth — 29.
• Hermantown — 19.
• Mountain Iron — 18.
  
• Hoyt Lakes — 17.
  
• Aurora, Orr — 12 each.
• Gilbert — 10.
• Ely, Proctor — 8 each.
  
• Cook, Nett Lake — 7 each.

• Iron, Saginaw— 6 each.

• Britt, Embarrass, Tower — 5 each.
• Angora, Biwabik, Brookston, Floodwood, Forbes, Side Lake — 3 each.
• Buyck, Makinen, Soudan — 2 each.
• Babbitt, Cotton — 1 each.

As of Thursday, the county's seven-day testing positivity rate was 6%, down 1% from last week. The county conducted 10,117 tests Sept. 17-23.

Carlton County logged 87 new cases in the last week. Those new cases came from 2,522 tests, putting this week's testing positivity rate at 3.4%, down 3.6% from last week.

New cases in Carlton County ZIP codes Sept. 17-23, according to Minnesota Department of Health data:

• Cloquet — 55.
• Moose Lake — 17.
• Carlton — 8.
• Esko, Sawyer — 7 each.
• Barnum — 6.
• Wrenshall — 3.
  
• Wright — 2.
• Cromwell — 1.

All Minnesota Northland counties except Carlton and Cook counties had positive test rates above 5% this week. Koochiching County's positivity rate was the highest, at 8.9%.

In the Northland, an additional 670 people received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total of Northland residents with at least one dose to 234,687, and 1,113 people became fully vaccinated. The total number of fully vaccinated Northlanders is now 223,124 — about 56% of the Northland's total population.

Percentage of people with at least one vaccine dose in each county:

• Aitkin — 54%.
• Carlton — 60%.
• Cook — 71%.
• Itasca — 51%.
• Koochiching — 51%.
• Lake — 63%.
• St. Louis — 60%.
• Ashland — 62%.
• Bayfield — 67%.
• Douglas — 59%.