Minnesota reports 7,228 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, highest ever

(FOX 9) - The Minnesota Department of Health reported 7,228 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, the most that have been reported in a single day so far in this pandemic. 

The 7,228 newly reported cases smashes the previous daily record of 5,924 cases set on Sunday. The state has seen a 135% increase in cases over the last two weeks, according to NBC News’s COVID-19 tracker. 

There have been over 200,000 cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota to date. More than 79% of those cases have recovered to the point where they no longer need to be isolated. 

The record-breaking number of cases reported Wednesday were on a record high volume of tests. There were 48,513 tests completed in a 24-hour period—a positivity rate of 14.9%. 

Minnesota’s 7-day moving average rate of positive tests is up to 14.3%, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 Tracking Project. The World Health Organization says the rate of positive tests provides insights into whether a community is conducting enough testing to find cases. A high positivity rate suggests a community be testing the sickest patients and possibly missing milder or asymptomatic cases. 

MDH also reported 39 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 Thursday—the second most deaths reported in a single day after the 56 deaths reported Wednesday. Fourteen of the newly reported deaths were in the Twin Cities metro while the rest were in Greater Minnesota. 

The deaths included a Stearns County resident in their late 30s and a Dakota County resident in their early 40s. The remainder of the deaths were people 60 years old or older. 

Twenty-three of people who died were residents of long-term care or assisted living facilities, one lived in a group or behavioral health home and one was a person experiencing homelessness. 

To date, 2,793 people in Minnesota have died from COVID-19.