Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Deaths jump again; hospitalizations climbing - Minnesota Public Radio News

The Health Department on Thursday reported 20 more deaths atop 35 deaths the prior day, the largest two-day rise since late May.

Nearly 1,600 newly reported cases of the disease continued an October that’s seen counts averaging more than 1,000 a day.

The trend of active confirmed cases of the disease remains at a record high.

They also anticipated the wave would put more people in the hospital — and lead to more deaths.

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm on Wednesday called the recent data sad but not surprising, and she warned Minnesota to brace itself for more cases, hospitalizations and deaths unless more people take personal responsibility to stem the disease’s spread.

“We do need to understand that more cases are going to lead to more people with serious disease, potentially with long-term complications we are only beginning to understand,” Malcolm said.

People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the state’s largest number of confirmed cases — more than 28,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 16,000 among people ages 20-24.

The number of high school-age children confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 11,500 total cases among children ages 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.

Newly reported cases are highest in western Minnesota — the northwest, west-central and southwest areas of the state have been averaging more than 40 new cases per day per 100,000 people, higher than any of the state’s central and eastern regions.

Northern Minnesota, once the region least affected by the disease, has also seen its caseload grow dramatically in recent weeks.

Deaths are also spiking in northern and central Minnesota.

“We are seeing more deaths in greater Minnesota because we are seeing more cases there,” Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director, said Wednesday.

“We will see more and more deaths from greater Minnesota because of the high caseload.”.

Ehresmann and Malcolm tied the recent steep rise in cases and deaths to “COVID fatigue” but also described people who are ill but refuse to get tested because they don't want to admit they have it and don't quarantine as a contributing factor in spreading the disease.

In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 has hit communities of color disproportionately hard in both cases and deaths.

Data the past two weeks also show newly confirmed cases continuing to accelerate among Latino people in Minnesota.

The newest numbers came after Minnesota officials, seeing rampant spread across the state, strongly suggested people rethink their holiday plans and avoid multifamily celebrations or big gatherings with friends.

On Wednesday, she and Malcolm again implored Minnesotans to take personal responsibility to stem the spread of the disease, including wearing masks in indoor public spaces, socially distancing and staying home if you feel ill.

The Minnesota Department of Health on Thursday launched an at-home saliva testing pilot program in two dozen counties or tribal nations around the state.

Most locations have few testing options and many are in greater Minnesota, where spread of the virus has been rapid in recent weeks.

Data in these graphs are based on the Minnesota Department of Health's cumulative totals released at 11 a.m