Minnesota's COVID-19 update for Wednesday, December 22

Wednesday's COVID-19 update from the Minnesota Department of Health includes 2,807 newly reported cases and 57 newly reported deaths. The state's COVID-19 death toll is now 10,254.

The figures on Wednesday relate to the 24-hour reporting period ending 4 a.m. Tuesday. 

Minnesota's test positivity rate on a 7-day rolling average (through Dec. 14) is 9.0%, having recently been higher than 11%. Anything over 10% puts Minnesota in the high-risk threshold for community transmission of the coronavirus.

Hospitalizations

Through Dec. 21, the number of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Minnesota was 1,432 – down from the 1,470 reported on Dec. 20. Of those hospitalized, 347 people are in intensive care (down from 355) and 1,085 are in non-ICU care (down from 1,115).

The most ICU patients during the duration of the pandemic was 399 on Dec. 1, 2020.

Despite the drop in COVID hospitalizations, the latest hospital capacity data shows there are only 23 staffed adult ICU beds available in the entire state – down from 32 on Dec. 20 – and 8 pediatric ICU beds available, which is down from 9 on Dec. 20.

Vaccine, booster stats

As of Dec. 20, the state reported that 3,728,896 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 3,494,441 people have completed the vaccine series. The state has administered 1,583,367 third doses/booster shots.

The percentage of Minnesota's population with at least one shot, based on age group:

• 5-11: 30%
• 12-15: 62%
• 16-17: 65%
• 18-49: 69%
• 50-64: 79%
• 65+: 97%
• Total population: 67%

The percentage of Minnesota's population that have completed the vaccine series, based on age group:

• 5-11: 20%
• 12-15: 57%
• 16-17: 61%
• 18-49: 65%
• 50-64: 76%
• 65+: 93%
• Total population: 62.8%

According to the CDC, which cites data from September 2021, an unvaccinated person was 5.8 times more likely to get COVID-19 and 14 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than someone who is fully vaccinated.

Coronavirus in Minnesota by the numbers

• Total tests: 15,813,793 (up from 15,773,963)
• People with at least 1 vaccine shot: 3,728,896 (up from 3,725,062)
• People who have completed vaccine series: 3,494,441 (up from 3,490,578)
• People who have had a booster/3rd shot: 1,583,367 (up from 1,563,729)
• Positive cases: 992,851 (up from 990,047)
• Reinfection cases: 12,451 (up from 12,340)
• Deaths: 10,254 – 626 of which are "probable*" (up from 10,197)
• Patients no longer requiring isolation: 959,776 (up from 945,423)

* 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.