Minnesota reports record 3,483 new COVID-19 cases on Election Day

(FOX 9) - Minnesota reported a record high 3,483 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, the third time in the past five days the state has reported more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day. 

The previous daily high for newly reported COVID-19 cases was 3,165 on Friday, Oct. 30. 

The 3,483 newly reported cases were out of 12,882 completed tests—a positivity rate of approximately 27%, accoridn to the latest Minnesota Department of Health data. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said Monday the state’s 7-day rolling average positivity rate is now 8.1%, although it is a lagging indicator and does not include the week of new record high case counts. 

There has been a 49% increase in COVID-19 cases in Minnesota over the last two weeks, according to the NBC News COVID-19 tracker. 

Minnesota has now seen a total of 157,096 COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic.

MDH also reported 15 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 Tuesday, seven of which were in long-term care facilities. Six of the deaths were in the Twin Cities metro area while the rest were in Greater Minnesota. The deaths ranged in age from 55 to over 100 years old. 

To date, 2,499 people in Minnesota have died from COVID-19. 

Hospitalizations remain at a record high in Minnesota as well. There are currently 852 people in Minnesota hospitalized with COVID-19, 197 of whom are in the ICU.