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Two new COVID-19 deaths were reported in the area on Thursday in an update from health officials.

One of the deaths occurred in a Mower County resident between 75 and 79; and the other happened to a 80- to 84-year-old Steele County resident. 

Mower reported 18 new cases of the coronavirus, and another six were listed as probable. The county has recorded 11,604 total cases since the pandemic began, and 67 county residents have died.

Steele County recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19. The county has reported 10,097 total cases, and 54 residents have died.

Freeborn County reported 18 new lab-confirmed cases, and another case was listed as probable. The county has recorded 8,782 total cases, and 69 county residents have died from COVID-19 complications.

The new cases included the following:

• Two people between 5 and 9
• Two between 10 and 14
• Two in their 20s
• Four in their 30s
• Three in their 40s
• Two in their 50s
• One in their 60s
• Three in their 70s

Two residents in Freeborn County were sent to a hospital for care, and there are 140 lab-confirmed cases.

Waseca County recorded nine new cases of COVID-19, and another was listed as probable. The county has had 5,371 total cases since the pandemic began, and 38 county residents have died.

Faribault County confirmed five new cases, and another case was listed as probable. Within Faribault there have been 3,687 total cases. Forty-nine county residents have died since the pandemic began. 

Minnesota had 1,853 new cases of COVID-19, raising the state’s number of cases to 4,402,439. Twenty-seven new Minnesotans died as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, and that brings the state’s total number of deaths to 11,930.