South-central Minnesota combines for 75 new COVID-19 cases
Apr. 15—MANKATO — Area counties again had a slight uptick in newly confirmed COVID-19 cases Thursday, continuing April's trend of at least 70 per day on average.
The 75 cases confirmed Thursday were up from 73 on Wednesday and 66 on Tuesday, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. So far in April, 11 of the 15 days have had at least 70 new cases.
In contrast to the elevated case totals, south-central Minnesota counties again had no new COVID-19 deaths in the health department's latest update.
Minnesota had 11 newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths statewide, however, and the state's pandemic death toll is fast approaching 7,000. The toll rose to 6,989 Thursday.
For new cases in the nine-county region, Blue Earth County accounted for 28 of the 75. Brown and Martin counties had the next most with nine each.
All nine counties had at least two. The full list of new cases by county includes:
* Blue Earth County — 28
* Brown County — 9
* Martin County — 9
* Nicollet County — 7
* Waseca County — 7
* Sibley County — 5
* Le Sueur County — 4
* Faribault County — 4
* Watonwan County — 2
Statewide, Minnesota's new COVID-19 cases continue to grow, but growth is slower than in recent weeks, blunted by the pace of vaccinations.
Despite a temporary disruption in vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Minnesota is on track to vaccinate 80% of adults by May 22, according to an MPR News analysis.
And for the first time, younger adults between 18 and 49 have been getting vaccinated slightly faster than people who are between 50 and 64, a signal that Minnesotans across age groups are eager to get their shots.
Still, Minnesota's vaccination rate is about to go down. Last week the state had record-high allocations of about 30,000 first doses a day. This week, the state will be allocated about 20,000 doses per day, a trend driven by the pause on J&J vaccine distribution.
The pause was prompted by a joint Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration recommendation that providers stop their distribution of the J&J vaccine while the agencies investigate the exceedingly rare occurrence of blood clots. The clots have been found in six women — out of nearly 7 million vaccines given nationwide — between the ages of 18 and 48, and occurred six to 13 days after vaccination.
Officials say they are not aware of any cases of blood clots occurring among the more than 184,000 state residents who have received the single-dose vaccine.
Before this week's J&J pause and an earlier factory mishap, officials had been hopeful that a flood of new J&J vaccines would combine with existing Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to drive Minnesota's vaccination rate to a new level. The newest numbers still suggest the state may reach a hopeful milestone — half of adults with at least one vaccine dose — by the end of this week or early next.
About 33% of Minnesota adults are completely vaccinated; 49% have received at least one vaccine dose, including about 85% of residents age 65 and older, the state health department said Thursday.
In south-central Minnesota, about 32.5% of eligible residents are completely vaccinated. For first doses, 46.9% of eligible residents have received them.
Meanwhile, case counts continue to climb — but not as quickly as they did in previous weeks. Minnesota reported about 2,700 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, a jump over recent days.
Overall the trend is still upward, but there are signs of a possible plateau.
Follow Brian Arola @BrianArola
