Nineteen COVID-19 deaths were reported by Minnesota health officials Monday along with 3,930 lab-confirmed infections of the respiratory disease.
The daily figures from the Minnesota Department of Health raised the statewide toll of the pandemic to 2,675 deaths and 184,788 known infections.
The state's pandemic response dashboard showed more than 1,000 Minnesota hospital beds filled with COVID-19 patients, including 224 people who needed intensive care due to breathing problems or other complications from their infections.
The dashboard also showed the positivity rate of diagnostic testing had nudged slightly above 10%, an indication of an accelerating spread of the virus regardless of any change in the number of diagnostic tests performed.
COVID-19 numbers are typically lower on Monday, reflecting reduced testing and diagnostic activity on the weekends. This Monday's numbers nonetheless contributed to record one-week tallies in infections, hospitalizations and deaths in Minnesota.
Total case numbers included 149,766 people who have recovered and are no longer considered infectious or required to isolate themselves. The total also included 1,504 infections listed as "probable" due to their verification with rapid antigen testing, which is slightly less accurate than standard diagnostic PCR testing.
Fourteen of the reported deaths involved people in long-term care facilities, who are at heightened risk due to their age and underlying health problems. More than 80% of total COVID-19 deaths have involved people 70 or older, including 17 of the deaths reported on Monday.
Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744
