ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota has recorded nine more deaths from COVID-19, raising the state’s death toll to 1,561 since the pandemic began, state health officials said Thursday.
The Minnesota Department of Health on Thursday also reported 736 new, confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Minnesota has recorded 48,721 positive cases since the start of the pandemic.
Minnesota Public Radio News reports not only did Minnesota’s monthlong rise in daily COVID-19 cases continue Thursday, but current hospitalizations also continued to rise. The number of patients hospitalized but not needing intensive care jumped to 175, its highest point in a month. But the number of intensive care cases fell to 107, down from 119 on Wednesday.
Officials have been warning Minnesotans to expect hospitalizations to rise following several weeks of a surge in new confirmed cases.
Newly confirmed cases continue to jump, although the daily increases have flattened in recent days. Recently the rate of positive tests for the disease has been steady at just under 5%.
The latest figures come a day after Gov. Tim Walz announced he is mandating Minnesotans wear face masks in businesses, public buildings and other indoor spaces where people gather, to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. The executive order goes into effect on Saturday.
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