There are some statistical signs Minnesota’s coronavirus surge might be waning, but state health officials warn it is too soon to know for sure.
“Data is important,” Gov. Tim Walz said at a Monday news conference. “Data doesn’t give you answers; data allows you to ask the right questions to find the answers that you need.”
After about a month of uncontrolled infections, Minnesota has seen improvement in three key indicators: COVID-19 hospital admissions, new cases per capita and a lower percentage of tests coming back positive.
However, the state continues to have one of the highest current rates of new infections in the nation. There were 5,801 new coronavirus cases reported Monday and 15 more deaths.
The number of occupied hospital beds reached an all-time high for the pandemic Monday with 1,840 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 392 in critical condition.
“While we are certainly looking for rays of light from recent days and many folks have commented that it looks promising,” Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said, “when we look at the bigger picture, we really believe we are still at a very serious point in the pandemic. A very pivotal point for where things go from here.”
State health officials now are eager to see what comes of the Thanksgiving holiday and Walz’s recent executive order closing bars, restaurants, gyms and pausing organized youth sports.
It will take another two or three weeks to determine if the current decline is part of a more sustained trend or just a lull in the current wave.
Walz reminded Minnesotans there was “light at the end of the tunnel.” Two vaccines await emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and some distribution could begin in December.
“Every day we are getting closer to the end of this,” Walz said. “Now is not the time to back off.”
However, state and federal health officials warn it could take months, or the better part of a year, to vaccinate a large portion of the population.
Since the state’s outbreak began in March, Minnesota has diagnosed 318,763 coronavirus cases. Of those infections, 272,608 people who had the virus have recovered enough that they no longer need to be isolated.
There are 3,593 Minnesotans who’ve died from COVID-19. Another 59 are suspected to have died from a coronavirus infection but never tested positive.
Two-thirds of Minnesota’s COVID-19 deaths were residents of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living. There are currently nearly 700 long-term care facilities with coronavirus outbreaks.
The majority of those with serious and fatal cases have been over the age of 60. But there have been younger Minnesotans who have been hospitalized or have died from COVID-19.
About 60 percent of hospitalizations and 93 percent of deaths have been of people 60 and older.
Minnesota continues to test at a robust pace. The state’s seven-day average test capacity has roughly doubled in November with more than 50,000 samples now being processed each day.
