Minnesota sees 6 straight days with over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases

(FOX 9) - Minnesota has now seen six straight days with more than 1,000 new positive COVID-19 cases, according to the latest data released Tuesday. 

The Minnesota Department of Health reported 1,150 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and seven more deaths attributed to the disease. The state has now seen 114,574 cases of COVID-19 and 2,151 deaths since the onset of the pandemic. 

The 1,150 new cases of COVID-19 were out of 19,444 completed tests—a positivity rate of 5.9%. As of Monday, the key metric for assessing community spread of the disease—the 7-day rolling average positivity rate—was 5%. Anything over 5% is a concern for MDH because it indicates a high rate of community transmission. State health officials said the 7-day rolling average positivity rate had been above 5% for 16 days.  

Of the seven new deaths reported Tuesday, only two were in long-term care or assisted living facilities. All but one of the deaths were in greater Minnesota and all were people over the age of 75. 

The state’s COVID-19 dashboard shows there are currently 481 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 134 of whom are in the ICU. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will join Tuesday’s MDH briefing on the state’s COVID-19 situation, where he is expected to announce the state’s is planning to open additional saliva testing sites. FOX 9 will air the 2 p.m. briefing live at fox9.com/live.