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Minnesota’s latest COVID-19 data continues to show the state’s numbers headed in the wrong direction.

The Health Department Wednesday reported more than 1,200 newly confirmed cases, extending more than a weeklong trend of newly confirmed cases averaging more than 1,000 a day. Hospitalizations are also trending higher. The daily death count was the highest in months.

The positive test rate trend remains above 5 percent, the threshold where officials become concerned.

Officials on Wednesday also unveiled new changes to the way they report data on cases and deaths. They’ve begun reporting the results of antigen tests, a more rapid form of COVID-19 test, along with the results from the more traditional COVID-19 test known by its initials PCR.

The Health Department said it made the move so its reporting would align with federal guidance. Antigen testing had been relatively small prior to this, so the change to previous case counts won’t be dramatic.

The state, though, is now adding to the COVID-19 death toll people who died after having had COVID-19 confirmed by an antigen (rapid) test but not a PCR test. That adds six people to the state’s death toll — on top of 23 newly reported deaths.

Even without the statistical tweak, it was still the highest number of daily deaths reported since mid-June. The jump follows similar spikes Wisconsin, which reported 34 deaths in its Tuesday report. North Dakota set a new record for daily deaths last week, at 24.

Those 29 deaths raised Minnesota’s toll to 2,180. Among those who’ve died, about 70 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems.

The 1,254 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday brought the total in the pandemic to 115,943 cases to date; about 90 percent have recovered to the point they no longer need to be isolated.

 

Local cases

Four new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Freeborn County Wednesday , bringing the county’s cumulative case count to 597, of which 30 are considered active cases and one person is hospitalized.

The Freeborn County Public Health Department stated the new cases included two people in their 40s and two people in their 50s.

Faribault County reported three new cases, increasing its cumulative total to 189; Mower County reported four new cases and has now had 1,453 cases; Steele County reported nine new cases and has had 668 cases; and Waseca County reported three new cases and has had 881 cases.

 

Minnesota COVID-19 cases, deaths

County	Total confirmed cases	Total probable cases	Total cases	Total deaths
Aitkin	129	0	129	1
Anoka	7,543	5	7,548	144
Becker	416	2	418	2
Beltrami	683	0	683	6
Benton	730	10	740	4
Big Stone	117	0	117	0
Blue Earth	1,886	0	1,886	7
Brown	271	0	271	3
Carlton	355	0	355	1
Carver	1,615	6	1,621	7
Cass	267	0	267	4
Chippewa	329	1	330	2
Chisago	743	0	743	2
Clay	1,824	0	1,824	43
Clearwater	57	0	57	0
Cook	8	0	8	0
Cottonwood	251	0	251	0
Crow Wing	757	0	757	21
Dakota	8,731	11	8,742	133
Dodge	341	0	341	0
Douglas	528	0	528	3
Faribault	189	0	189	0
Fillmore	211	0	211	0
Freeborn	597	0	597	4
Goodhue	461	1	462	11
Grant	81	0	81	4
Hennepin	30,888	35	30,923	959
Houston	168	0	168	1
Hubbard	231	0	231	1
Isanti	445	0	445	3
Itasca	597	0	597	16
Jackson	178	0	178	1
Kanabec	166	0	166	9
Kandiyohi	1,377	1	1,378	4
Kittson	18	0	18	0
Koochiching	147	0	147	4
Lac qui Parle	112	0	112	2
Lake	90	0	90	0
Lake of the Woods	39	0	39	1
Le Sueur	549	0	549	5
Lincoln	149	1	150	0
Lyon	847	1	848	5
Mahnomen	78	0	78	1
Marshall	73	0	73	1
Martin	558	0	558	16
McLeod	548	0	548	3
Meeker	279	0	279	3
Mille Lacs	284	2	286	4
Morrison	463	4	467	4
Mower	1,435	18	1,453	7
Murray	224	0	224	3
Nicollet	637	0	637	17
Nobles	2,072	0	2,072	16
Norman	86	0	86	0
Olmsted	2,884	0	2,884	29
Otter Tail	641	0	641	6
Pennington	149	1	150	1
Pine	462	2	464	0
Pipestone	310	0	310	16
Polk	438	1	439	4
Pope	130	0	130	0
Ramsey	12,635	21	12,656	337
Red Lake	49	0	49	2
Redwood	220	0	220	9
Renville	212	3	215	10
Rice	1,506	0	1,506	8
Rock	267	2	269	1
Roseau	158	0	158	0
Scott	2,992	3	2,995	34
Sherburne	1,411	2	1,413	18
Sibley	227	0	227	3
St. Louis	2,346	2	2,348	55
Stearns	4,810	31	4,841	33
Steele	668	0	668	2
Stevens	150	1	151	1
Swift	178	0	178	1
Todd	619	0	619	2
Traverse	47	0	47	0
Wabasha	283	0	283	0
Wadena	137	6	143	0
Waseca	881	0	881	9
Washington	4,790	4	4,794	64
Watonwan	551	0	551	4
Wilkin	106	0	106	4
Winona	1,095	0	1,095	18
Wright	2,123	2	2,125	11
Yellow Medicine	249	0	249	4
Unknown/missing	181	1	182	6