Positivity Rate Hits 2021 High; 4,718 COVID-19 Cases, 37 Deaths

MINNESOTA — The Minnesota Department of Health on Monday reported 37 deaths and 4,718 new coronavirus cases, the state’s second-largest single-day case spike since in 2021, according to public health data.

Minnesota’s biggest increase of the year came Nov. 8, when officials reported 4,798 new cases.

Those spikes have been part of a huge recent surge in cases. In early November, the state's positivity rate rose above 10 percent for the first time in 2021, Fox 9 reported. Minnesota's positivity rate rose to 10.9 percent by Nov. 12, its highest mark in 2021.

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Minnesota’s seven-day average number of new cases per 100,000 people climbed to 74, according to reports. The state’s metrics surpassed the “high risk” threshold of 10 in early November and has remained above it since.

Minnesota’s seven-day average of new cases hit 3,308 on Nov. 14, its highest mark since Dec. 10, according to public health data.

The 37 deaths reported Monday took Minnesota’s death toll to 9,192 since the start of the pandemic last spring.

Officials on Monday reported 1,373 people were hospitalized across the state with COVID-19, down slightly from the 1,414 hospitalizations reported last week. Monday’s report said 330 people are in intensive care units.

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Just two dozen staffed adult ICU beds and 11 pediatric ICU beds were available in Minnesota, Bring Me the News reported. Just over three dozen pediatric non-ICU beds are available statewide, according to the report.

Gov. Tim Walz on Monday activated 400 National Guard members who will be trained and deployed as certified nursing assistants and temporary nursing aides to help long-term care facilities cope with staffing shortages.

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National Guard members are also being deployed to several alternative care facilities to help patients who no longer need to be hospitalized, which will open up space for patients with COVID-19 and those who need emergency treatment, officials said.

Walz has proposed spending $50 million in federal funding to help long-term care facilities hire and keep employees, with more than 23,000 open positions for long-term caregivers in Minnesota.