Minnesota reports record number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations

(FOX 9) - Minnesota health officials reported 1,120 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and seven more deaths from disease. 

Minnesota has now seen a total of 125,531 COVID-19 cases and 2,246 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest state Department of Health data. 

The 1,120 newly reported cases were out of 13,903 completed tests in a 24-hour period—a testing positivity rate of 8.1%. The key metric—the 7-day rolling average testing positivity rate—was 5.8% as of Monday, although it is a lagging indicator. Anything over 5% is a concern for MDH because it indicates a high rate of community transmission. 

Hospitalizations have been steadily increasing over the last few days with 126 new hospitalizations reported Tuesday—a new single-day high. There are currently 567 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Minnesota, up from 487 a week ago. Of those 567 patients, 155 of them are in the ICU. 

The seven deaths reported Tuesday included two in the Twin Cities metro. One of the deaths was a Stearns County resident in their late 50s, while the rest were people 80 or older. 

Five of the seven deaths were in long-term care or assisted living facilities. To date, 71% of the state’s deaths have been in those types of facilities.