Another 404 Minnesotans were diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the total number of known cases to 26,273, state health officials announced Thursday.
Twenty-nine more people have died from complications of the new coronavirus for a total of 1,115 fatalities caused by the pandemic.
About 80% of all deaths have been among residents of long-term care facilities. Twenty of the deaths announced Thursday were among facility residents.
More than 180 nursing homes or assisted-living facilities have had at least one death among its residents, according to a Star Tribune analysis of death records.
The number of people requiring hospitalization has fallen since it peaked at 606 inpatients on May 28. As of Thursday, 512 were in the hospital, a decrease of 10 since Wednesday. The number of those needing intensive care has also dropped to 244 from 254 on Wednesday.
Most people — about 80% or 21,490 — who have become sickened with the virus no longer need to be isolated because they have recovered. Most people who become infected have minor or no symptoms and don't need medical care.
Those who do become the most ill are typically those with underlying health conditions, including heart, lung or kidney disease, that make them susceptible to complications caused by the virus. However, there have been some hospitalizations and deaths among those who had no apparent health conditions.
Minnesota's first known COVID-19 cases came in mid-March among residents who became ill after they returned from travel to places where the new coronavirus was circulating.
So far, 886 of Minnesota's cases have been linked to travel, including some who were on cruise ships.
But community spread of the virus has since become the main source of infection, accounting for over 13,000 of the known cases.
Nearly 6,000 cases have been linked to congregate care settings, which include long-term care facilities as well as group homes and residential substance abuse treatment programs.
Glenn Howatt • 612-673-7192
