COVID-19 Tuesday update: After holiday data delay, 10,651 new infections and 29 more deaths reported

Christopher Magan, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·2 min read

Jan. 18—The Minnesota Department of Health reported 27 new COVID-19 deaths and 10,651 more infections Tuesday, data that is current through last Friday, Jan. 14, because of reporting delays caused by Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The latest deaths to be reported include a Ramsey County resident in their early 30s and a Washington County resident in their late 40s. In all, the deaths range in age from their 30s to their late 90s with six residing in long-term care and 23 in private homes.

The death toll has now hit exactly 11,000 since the pandemic began. Nearly 83 percent of those who have died have been seniors age 65 or older.

The 10,651 new cases reported Tuesday push the state total to 1,148,888 since March 2020. Nearly all new cases are driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

The state's belated measure of test-positivity now tops 22 percent, and about 173 new infections per 100,000 resident are being reported each day.

Since summer, the state has only releases new outbreak data on business days. The true size of the current outbreak is hard to gauge, especially as at-home testing, whose results are not reported to the state, becomes more accessible.

There are 1,610 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 248 in intensive care. Hospital capacity continues to be tight in much of the state, especially in the Twin Cities metro area, where only three intensive care beds and 40 regular hospital beds were reportedly available.

An estimated 62,700 people with active infections are recovering at home.

Health officials maintain vaccines are the best way to avoid a severe infection and slow the spread of the coronavirus. But omicron is able to evade much of the initial protection provided by vaccines and boosters are urged for anyone 12 and older. Still, those suffering the worst outcomes of a breakthrough infection are typically elderly or immunocompromised. The unvaccinated continue to bear the brunt of acute COVID-19 infection: hospitalization and death.

Minnesota has administered 8.9 million doses of vaccine, including 1.9 million boosters. About 73 percent of eligible residents, age 5 and older, have gotten at least one dose and 3.5 million, or 68 percent, have completed their initial vaccination series. However, that leaves some 1.4 million unvaccinated Minnesotans at risk of a severe infection.