Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Minnesota’s new COVID-19 daily case count is continuing to slow with 2,340 new cases reported on Tuesday, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

The state has now had 384,164 total cases, of which about 32,000 are still in isolation. As of Sunday, 1,283 people were still hospitalized, including 319 in intensive care.

Twenty-one new deaths were reported from 14 counties, including one person in their early 80s from Waseca County.

Aside from one person from Hennepin County in their late 40s, the rest of the people who died were 60 or older. Eleven lived in long-term care or assisted living facilities.

The state has now had 4,483 deaths, of which 2,928 resided in long-term care or assisted living facilities. During December alone, the state has had 890 deaths reported, and in November there were 1,100.

The new numbers come as Gov. Tim Walz and state health officials consider whether to lift restrictions in place for in-person dining and fitness centers.

Vaccinations started on Tuesday at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, with a nurse being the first to receive the vaccine.

Thera Witte, who works in a coronavirus unit at the hospital, said she feels honored to be the first and did not hesitate to volunteer.

“I’m feeling hopeful that this is the beginning of the end” of the pandemic, Witte said after receiving the first of two Pfizer doses. She will be vaccinated again in three weeks.

Thousands of doses of the Pfizer vaccine began arriving in Minnesota this week, with the VA hospital being the first recipient of 2,925 doses on Monday along with Sanford Bemidji Medical Center, Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester and the Cass Lake Indian Health Service.

“Today it feels very real,” Gov. Tim Walz said at a news conference at the hospital Tuesday. “It’s our way out of this. It is one of the tools.”

The state anticipates that 46,800 Pfizer doses will be delivered this week to Minnesota hospitals and clinics, which will start administering them next week to health care workers at greatest risk of infection.

 

Local cases

Freeborn County on Tuesday reported 11 new COVID-19 cases and has now had 1,802 cases, of which 122 are active.

The county has had 14 deaths, the last two of which occurred over the weekend.

The Freeborn County Public Health Department reported the new cases on Tuesday included three people in their 20s, one person in their 30s, three people in their 40s, two people in their 50s, one person in their 60s and one person in their 90s.

The following is an update on other area counties:

• Faribault County: five new lab-confirmed cases; 783 total cases

• Mower County: six new lab-confirmed cases; 3,113 total cases

• Steele County: five new lab-confirmed cases; 2,353 total cases

• Waseca County: 13 new lab-confirmed cases; 1,582 total cases

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Minnesota COVID-19 cases, deaths

County	Total confirmed cases	Total probable cases	Total cases	Total deaths
Aitkin	925	16	941	31
Anoka	25,391	1,612	27,003	265
Becker	2,466	40	2,506	29
Beltrami	2,548	91	2,639	29
Benton	3,490	127	3,617	65
Big Stone	398	9	407	2
Blue Earth	4,715	17	4,732	22
Brown	1,807	33	1,840	24
Carlton	2,136	247	2,383	29
Carver	5,787	181	5,968	22
Cass	1,758	19	1,777	13
Chippewa	1,135	20	1,155	18
Chisago	3,669	156	3,825	24
Clay	5,774	53	5,827	69
Clearwater	604	10	614	10
Cook	97	0	97	0
Cottonwood	1,074	74	1,148	5
Crow Wing	4,232	50	4,282	48
Dakota	26,956	659	27,615	237
Dodge	1,059	3	1,062	3
Douglas	3,119	84	3,203	50
Faribault	780	3	783	5
Fillmore	927	10	937	0
Freeborn	1,792	10	1,802	14
Goodhue	2,655	15	2,670	35
Grant	345	2	347	7
Hennepin	78,447	1,840	80,287	1,252
Houston	962	42	1,004	6
Hubbard	1,284	15	1,299	33
Isanti	2,297	132	2,429	25
Itasca	2,445	29	2,474	29
Jackson	670	27	697	3
Kanabec	847	15	862	18
Kandiyohi	5,015	41	5,056	48
Kittson	292	33	325	14
Koochiching	493	8	501	7
Lac qui Parle	490	30	520	8
Lake	461	41	502	11
Lake of the Woods	133	5	138	1
Le Sueur	1,780	17	1,797	13
Lincoln	424	7	431	1
Lyon	2,582	39	2,621	23
Mahnomen	361	1	362	6
Marshall	620	16	636	11
Martin	1,417	15	1,432	23
McLeod	2,838	27	2,865	31
Meeker	1,740	22	1,762	22
Mille Lacs	1,855	49	1,904	38
Morrison	2,668	99	2,767	36
Mower	3,079	34	3,113	23
Murray	688	19	707	5
Nicollet	1,901	13	1,914	30
Nobles	3,356	52	3,408	41
Norman	398	1	399	7
Olmsted	8,190	19	8,209	46
Otter Tail	3,811	99	3,910	37
Pennington	771	71	842	10
Pine	1,954	69	2,023	10
Pipestone	819	21	840	18
Polk	2,902	164	3,066	40
Pope	647	4	651	3
Ramsey	33,303	997	34,300	593
Red Lake	250	26	276	3
Redwood	1,194	22	1,216	23
Renville	1,146	45	1,191	34
Rice	4,876	58	4,934	46
Rock	924	46	970	10
Roseau	1,416	111	1,527	9
Scott	10,023	210	10,233	71
Sherburne	6,698	406	7,104	49
Sibley	920	22	942	4
St. Louis	10,957	376	11,333	159
Stearns	15,616	449	16,065	145
Steele	2,345	8	2,353	9
Stevens	621	4	625	5
Swift	722	19	741	13
Todd	2,109	12	2,121	19
Traverse	174	2	176	2
Wabasha	1,347	5	1,352	2
Wadena	1,005	30	1,035	10
Waseca	1,578	4	1,582	12
Washington	16,585	505	17,090	150
Watonwan	991	5	996	5
Wilkin	529	9	538	5
Winona	3,302	28	3,330	39
Wright	9,440	557	9,997	68
Yellow Medicine	754	42	796	13
Unknown/missing	391	17	408	0