Three more people have died of COVID-19 in Minnesota, health officials reported Sunday.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported a net increase of 715 new confirmed coronavirus infections, according to a data release on Sunday morning.
The increase followed a recent trend of growing counts in new daily cases with some of the largest in Minnesota since May. The increase came on a volume of about 13,050 completed tests, however, which is significantly higher than daily test tallies in May.
Residents of long-term care and assisted-living facilities accounted for one of the newly announced deaths. Statewide, the pandemic's toll reached 1,502 deaths.
The latest numbers show 251 patients were hospitalized, compared with 241 on Saturday; 123 patients required intensive care, compared with 121 on Saturday. Daily tallies for hospitalized patients in Minnesota have been trending down or holding steady in recent weeks.
COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus that surfaced late last year. Since the first case was reported in Minnesota in early March, 4,399 people have been hospitalized.
People at greatest risk from COVID-19 include those 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities and those with underlying medical conditions.
Those health problems range from lung disease and serious heart conditions to severe obesity and diabetes. People undergoing treatment for failing kidneys also run a greater risk, as do those with cancer and other conditions where treatments suppress immune systems.
Numbers released Sunday show health care workers have accounted for 4,068 cases statewide. A total of 36,582 Minnesotans who were infected with the novel coronavirus no longer need to be in isolation, an increase of more than 570 people at Saturday's data release.
As has been true for several weeks, confirmed cases have been reported in 86 of the state's 87 counties, with no cases in Lake of the Woods County in far northern Minnesota.
Most patients with COVID-19 don't need to be hospitalized. The illness usually causes mild or moderate sickness and many lack symptoms.
Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751
