MINNESPOLIS (AP) - COVID-19 is sweeping across Minnesota at an unprecedented pace, breaking records for new cases and daily deaths and raising concerns over the ability of hospitals to keep up.
The Star Tribune reports Saturday’s tally of 4,647 new cases - a figure that would have easily set a record during the first eight months of the pandemic - wasn’t even close to the biggest single-day count of the past week. For the seven-day period ending Saturday, Minnesota reported more than 25,000 new COVID-19 cases, or more than 10% of the state’s cases since March.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported another 34 deaths on Saturday, bringing the week’s total to 168, the second highest one-week count since the start of the pandemic. Hospitals, meanwhile, are scrambling to treat more COVID-19 patients even as the virus threatens to sideline more health care workers.
With the Upper Midwest leading the way, the U.S. for the first time last week passed the grim landmark of 100,000 new cases per day.
North Dakota and South Dakota once again led the nation Saturday for population-adjusted case growth, with readings that were significantly higher than last week.
Last Thursday and Friday, Minnesota hospitals reported they were treating more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients each day, the highest volumes since the pandemic began.
Overall, Minnesota has reported 174,954 cases, 11,394 hospitalizations and 2,625 deaths from COVID-19. Long-term care and assisted living residents accounted for 18 of the deaths announced Saturday, and 1,818 deaths total.
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