Today’s Covid-19 Update for Wednesday February 10 2021

Tuesday’s COVID update from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) includes 586 new cases and six new deaths.

The newly reported deaths bring the state’s total to 6,308 over the course of the pandemic. Of those deaths, 63% (3,977) were residents of long-term care, including five of the six reported Tuesday.

Through Feb. 7, the state reported that 569,164 people have received at least 1 dose of the a COVID-19 vaccine while 162,132 people have completed both doses of vaccine that are required for the vaccines’ maximum 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 what was the first known case of the Brazil P.1 variant in the United States. That case involves a Minnesotan who 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 564 positive results in Tuesday’s update were from a total of 10,623 completed tests, creating a daily test positivity rate of 5.31%.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Minnesota’s test positivity rate over the past seven days is 3.47%, 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: 6,808,634 (up from 6,798,547)
• People tested: 3,322,594 (up from 3,321,315)
• People with at least 1 vaccine shot: 569,164 (up from 556,482)
• People with 2 vaccine shots: 162,132 (up from 158,763)
• Positive cases: 469,254 (up from 468,682)
• Deaths: 6,308 – 262 of which are “probable*” (up from 6,302)
• Patients no longer requiring isolation: 455,280 (up from 454,290)

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