Minnesotas COVID-19 update for Monday, November 8 – Bring Me The News

Monday’s COVID-19 update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 4,253 newly reported cases and 34 newly reported deaths. The state’s COVID-19 death toll is now 8,862. 

Among the new fatal cases is a person aged 25-29 from Isanti County. 

As of Nov. 4, the state reported that 3,486,879 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 3,324,363 people have completed the vaccine series. The state has administered 523,905 third doses/booster shots.

The percentage of Minnesota’s population with at least one shot, based on age group:

  • 5-11: 1%
  • 12-15: 59%
  • 16-17: 63%
  • 18-49: 67%
  • 50-64: 78%
  • 65+: 96%
  • Total population: 62.7%

59.8% of Minnesota’s total population, including children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for the vaccine, has completed the vaccine series. That jumps to 70.7% when excluding kids under the age of 12. MDH has a public dashboard to track vaccine progress in Minnesota, and you can view it here.

Hospitalizations

Through Nov. 5, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 990 – up from 982 reported Friday. Of those hospitalized, 227 people are in intensive care and 763 were in general hospital care.

Hospital capacity is very tight in parts of Minnesota, especially staffed ICU beds.

Screen Shot 2021-11-08 at 10.32.01 AM

MDH

Testing and positivity rates.

The 4,253 positive results in Monday’s update were from 44,640 completed tests, creating a test positivity rate of 9.52%.

The World Health Organization recommends that a percent positive rate (total positives divided by total completed tests) of below 5% for at least two weeks is necessary to safely keep the economy open.

Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers

  • Total tests: 13,913,703 (up from 13,868,886)
  • People with at least 1 vaccine shot: 3,486,879
  • People who have completed vaccine series: 3,324,363
  • People who have had a booster/3rd shot: 523,905 (up from 504,299)
  • Positive cases: 819,239 (up from 815,008)
  • Reinfection cases: 8,637 (up from 8,546)
  • Deaths: 8,862 – 513 of which are “probable*” (up from 8,828)
  • Patients no longer requiring isolation: 784,990 (up from 781,378)

* Probable deaths are patients who died after testing positive using the COVID-19 antigen test, which is thought to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.