Today’s Covid-19 Update for Sunday, January 31 2021

Sunday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 996 new cases and 13 new deaths.

The newly reported deaths bring the state’s total to 6,200 over the course of the pandemic. Of those deaths, 63.4% (3,929) were residents of long-term care, including 7 of the 13 reported Sunday.

Through Jan. 29, the state reported that 418,299 people have received at least 1 dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine while 111,715 people have completed both doses of vaccine that are required for the vaccines’ full effect.

MDH has a public dashboard to track vaccine progress in Minnesota, and you can view it here.

Two new variants of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Minnesota, including the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. That case involves a Minnesotan who recently traveled to Brazil. There are 8 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant. Both new strains are believed to be more transmissible.

The 996 positive results in Sunday’s update were from a total of 30,362 completed tests, creating a daily test positivity rate of 3.28%.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.77%, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.

The World Health Organization recommends that a percent positive rate (total positives divided by total completed tests) of below 5% for at least two weeks is necessary to safely reopen the economy.That 5% threshold is based on total positives divided by total tests.

Statewide:

• Total tests: 6,576,802 (up from 6,545,968)
• People tested: 3,264,300 (up from 3,253,030)
• People with at least 1 vaccine shot: 381,204 as of Jan. 28 (up from 381,204)
• Positive cases: 461,807 (up from 460,819)
• Deaths: 6,200 – 248 of which are “probable*” (up from 6,187)
• Patients no longer requiring isolation: 446,137 (up from 444,782)

Updated daily with data current as of 4 p.m. the previous day.