Here is Minnesota's COVID-19 update for Wednesday, October 28
After reaching a new high during the pandemic with 658 COVID-19 patients hospitalized through Monday, the Minnesota Department of Health's newest update shows that number has grown to 680 people with COVID-19 hospitalized through Tuesday.
That includes 166 people with COVID-19 in intensive care and a further 514 patients hospitalized in a non-ICU bed, according to health department data.
Overall, Minnesota's hospitals have a maximum of 1,891 ICU beds, and 1,074 of those are currently occupied (166 being patients with COVID-19). Just under 3,000 non-ICU beds remain available statewide (6,856 of 9,843 are occupied – that's 69.6% filled).
Meanwhile, Minnesota's COVID-19 death toll increased by 19, reaching 2,387 since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Of the 19 newly reported deaths Wednesday, there were two people aged in their 70s, 13 individuals in their 80s and four people in their 90s.
Of the dead since the first fatal case was reported in March, 1,669 were residents of long-term care facilities, including 16 of the 19 included in Wednesday's update.
There were 1,916 positive tests reported Wednesday, of which eight were removed for an official total of 1,908 confirmed cases. The MDH reported 17,230 diagnostic PCR tests and an additional 746 antigen tests for a total of 17,976 completed tests.
Those tests were from 9,316 people tested. As if often the case, patients are tested multiple times, so the more accurate reading for test positivity rate is based on the total number of people tested, which today is 20.48%.
The positivity rate for Wednesday when total cases is divided by total tests is 10.61%. Health experts say positivity rates need to be below the 5% mark to control the spread of the virus.
Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers:
- Total tests: 2,739,997 (up from 2,724,320)
- People tested: 1,801,004 (up from 1,791,688)
- Positive cases: 139,444 (up from 137,536)
- Deaths: 2,387 – 14 of which are "probable*" (up from 2,368)
- Patients no longer requiring isolation: 123,529 (up from 122,100)
* Probable deaths are patients who died after testing positive using the COVID-19 antigen test, which is thought to be less accurate than the more common PCR test.
