Walz Says MN is Making Progress in Stemming COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Facilities

Gov. Tim Walz says Minnesota is making progress in stemming coronavirus infections in the state’s long-term care facilities. Walz and state health officials on Tuesday cited a dramatic drop in deaths and new cases of COVID-19 at nursing homes and other facilities over the last two months.

State health officials reported an additional 352 COVID-19 cases in Minnesota on Tuesday. That is a much lower total than we’ve seen recently, but as we mentioned yesterday when 922 cases were reported, state officials are in the process of moving to a new reporting system, which was expected to impact numbers on Monday and Tuesday. Health officials say to get a more accurate reflection of the new case load, we should average the two days, which comes out to 636 cases each day.

The 636 new cases each day came from an average of 11,864 tests for a case positivity rate of 5.3%, which is an increase on the state’s weekly average. The seven-day rolling average for case positivity reported on Monday was at 4.7%. State officials are hoping to keep the weekly average below 5%.

Hospitalization rates also rose today, with 266 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, up 19 from Monday. 112 of those hospitalized are in ICU, down three from Monday.

In the Lakeland viewing area, there were 14 new cases officially reported by the state in the following counties:

• Aitkin County – 1
• Beltrami County – 2
• Cass County – 1
• Crow Wing County – 2
• Itasca County – 4
• Koochiching County – 3
• Mille Lacs County – 1