Minnesota reports 956 new COVID-19 cases, 5 more deaths Sunday

The Minnesota Department of Health reported 956 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths Sunday. The state has now seen 505,224 COVID-19 cases and 6,782 deaths since the pandemic began. 

The 956 newly reported cases were out of 29,783 tests—a 3.2% positivity rate. Of the newly reported deaths, one person was a resident in a long-term care facility. 

Meanwhile, MDH reported 1,408,601 Minnesotans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 839,860 are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the state health department. 

Minnesota has administered over 2 million vaccine doses. Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday it took the state two months to administer the first million doses, but the second million were given out in less than one month. 

Walz predicts Minnesota will get 350,000 vaccine doses the week of March 29, which is double the 172,390 shots arriving this week and would be welcome news as the state’s vaccination pace has stagnated in recent days. 

Minnesotans are encouraged to sign up for the state’s Vaccine Connector website to be notified when they become eligible for a vaccine.