Minnesota is down to just 1 county without substantial or high COVID-19 transmission
Big Stone is the only county in Minnesota not considered a COVID-19 hotspot.
Community transmission rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show 86 of the state's 87 counties with "substantial" or "high" transmission. Those are the two most severe categorizations.
The CDC recommends everyone in areas with substantial or high transmission, regardless of vaccination status, wear a face covering while in a public, indoor space.
Related: Hennepin Healthcare doctor: Only go to the State Fair 'if you're vaccinated'
It took only a month (when the CDC announced its new guidance on July 27) for the state to go from 14 of these transmission hotspots to the current number of 86.
At that time, four counties fell into the most-severe high transmission category.
As of Thursday's update, a whopping 80 Minnesota counties have high transmission (red on the map to the right), while six have substantial transmission (orange).
Big Stone is the lone "moderate" county, and none fall into the "low" transmission bracket.
Here's a list of the high counties:
- Aitkin County
- Anoka County
- Becker County
- Beltrami County
- Benton County
- Blue Earth County
- Brown County
- Carlton County
- Carver County
- Cass County
- Chippewa County
- Chisago County
- Clay County
- Clearwater County
- Cook County
- Cottonwood County
- Crow Wing County
- Dakota County
- Dodge County
- Douglas County
- Faribault County
- Fillmore County
- Freeborn County
- Goodhue County
- Grant County
- Hennepin County
- Houston County
- Hubbard County
- Isanti County
- Itasca County
- Jackson County
- Kanabec County
- Kandiyohi County
- Kittson County
- Koochiching County
- Lac qui Parle County
- Le Sueur County
- Lyon County
- Mahnomen County
- Marshall County
- Martin County
- McLeod County
- Meeker County
- Mille Lacs County
- Morrison County
- Mower County
- Murray County
- Nicollet County
- Nobles County
- Norman County
- Olmsted County
- Otter Tail County
- Pennington County
- Pine County
- Pipestone County
- Polk County
- Pope County
- Ramsey County
- Red Lake County
- Redwood County
- Renville County
- Rice County
- Rock County
- Roseau County
- Scott County
- Sherburne County
- Sibley County
- St. Louis County
- Stearns County
- Steele County
- Stevens County
- Swift County
- Todd County
- Wabasha County
- Waseca County
- Washington County
- Watonwan County
- Winona County
- Wright County
- Yellow Medicine County
And here are the substantial counties:
- Lake County
- Lake of the Woods County
- Lincoln County
- Traverse County
- Wadena County
- Wilkin County
While still below the peaks seen during the winter of 2020-21, COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have been trending in the wrong direction throughout August. Health officials say it's been fueled by the delta variant, which is more easily transmitted from person to person.
Related: Delta variant among numerous issues putting strain on Minnesota hospitals
The current vaccines continue to show effectiveness when it comes to preventing severe cases of the disease, hospitalization or death compared to those who are not vaccinated, though one recent study shows they are not quite as effective at preventing infection compared to pre-delta strains.
The U.S. plans to begin offering booster shots to vaccinated individuals starting Sept. 20.
