304 Deaths, 36K Cases In Wright County 2 Years Into Pandemic

WRIGHT COUNTY, MN — Wright County recorded its first coronavirus case March 13, 2020. In the two years since, more than 300 residents have died from COVID-19 and the county has recorded almost 37,000 cases.

Residents were hospitalized more than 1,400 times in Wright County for COVID-19 since March 2020, while 248 cases required treatment in intensive care units, as of Monday, according to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard, which uses data from the Minnesota Department of Health.

Case rates have been trending down for the past two months, but there is still a "moderate" level of community transmission of the coronavirus in Wright County, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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CDC statistics show Wright County experienced several large case surges over the past two years.

The first came in November 2020, when Wright County's seven-day rolling average of new cases topped 208, the data show. That figure was well below 40 before the start of the surge.

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The county experienced a second, smaller surge in the spring of 2021, with the seven-day rolling average climbing from under 20 to almost 80 between early March and mid-April, the data show.

The county’s seven-day rolling average of cases fell below 10 in mid-July then steadily rose over the next four months, reaching just under 150 cases by mid-November.

Cases dropped again over the next month before the county’s largest surge started at the end of 2021, according to the CDC’s statistics.

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The county’s seven-day rolling average of cases sat at 65 on Christmas but ballooned by more than four times over the next month, reaching 276 by Jan. 25.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases has dropped off rapidly since the end of January, with that figure well below 50 since mid-February, the CDC’s data show.

Officials reported daily case increases of more than 300 just four times during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic. Three were in January 2022.

Minnesota health officials have reported more than 1.42 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago, with more than 1.3 million residents contracting the virus at some point.

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Residents ages 20-49 account for almost half of all COVID-19 cases recorded in Wright County over the past two years, while residents under 20 account for about 23 percent of cases, the data show. Just over 15 percent of cases were reported among residents 65 and older.

Public health officials have reported 5,824 cases in Buffalo, as of Monday, as well as 5,419 cases in Monticello. More than 8,300 total cases have been reported in St. Michael and Albertville ZIP codes since March 2020, the data show.

COVID-19 Cases by ZIP Code

• Buffalo (55313): 5,824
• Monticello (55362): 5,419
• St. Michael (55376): 4,941
• Elk River/Otsego (55330): 3,689
• Albertville (55301): 3,422
• Delano (55328): 2,299
• Annandale (55302): 1,832
• Maple Lake (55358): 1,327
• Montrose (55363): 1,241
• Cokato (55321): 1,128
• Rockford (55373): 982
• Clearwater (55320): 964
• Howard Lake (55349): 929
• Waverly (55390): 741
• Hanover (55341): 725
• South Haven (55382): 440
• Rogers (55374): 309

Sixty-six percent of Wright County residents have received two shots of the coronavirus vaccine, including 92 percent of residents 65 and older, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health.

Less than 49,000 residents — or about 46 percent of the county’s population — are “up to date" on their COVID-19 vaccinations after also getting booster shots, according to the data.

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Minnesota health officials reported 458 new cases Monday, including just three in Wright County. That takes the county's case count since the start of the pandemic to 36,384, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

The state has reported 12,328 deaths from COVID-19, as of Monday, while Wright County’s pandemic death toll stands at 304, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

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