Minnesota reports 1,504 COVID-19 cases, 50 deaths Wednesday

(FOX 9) - Minnesota health officials reported 1,504 new cases of COVID-19 and 50 more deaths Wednesday.

There have been 440,345 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Minnesota since the pandemic began, according to the latest Minnesota Department of Health data. Over 95% of the state’s cases have recovered to the point where the no longer require isolation.

Minnesota scrambles as feds shift vaccine strategy

Federal officials shifted the nation’s vaccine strategy on Tuesday, eight days before President-Elect Joe Biden is to take office, saying states should begin vaccinating older adults over 65 and those with documented pre-existing conditions.  

The 1,504 newly reported COVID-19 cases were on a volume of 23,956 completed tests—a positivity rate of 6.3%.

Twenty-one of the 50 deaths reported on Wednesday were in the Twin Cities metro, while the rest where in Greater Minnesota. Thirty-three of the deaths were in long-term care facilities and one was in a group home or residential behavioral health facility. To date, approximately 71% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been in long-term care facilities.

The youngest person who died was a St. Louis County resident in their 40s. The 49 other deaths were all people 60 or older.

There are currently 665 people hospitalized with COVID-19 In Minnesota, 129 of whom are in the ICU. Hospitalizations are continuing to trend downward after their peak at the end of November, when there were 1,865 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Minnesota launches online dashboard for tracking coronavirus vaccine

The Minnesota Department of Health has launched a new online dashboard for tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the state.  

MDH launched a new online COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday for tracking the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Minnesota. The dashboard is updated daily, but the reported data lags real-time numbers by a few days.

As of Jan. 10, 146,901 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines and 7,928 have received both doses.

The dashboard shows 487,325 vaccines have been shipped to Minnesota, although 103,700 of those are for the federal pharmacy provider program, which is not overseen by the state.