474 Deaths, 66K Cases In Washington County 2 Years Into Pandemic

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — Washington County reported its first coronavirus case March 16, 2020. In the two years since, almost 500 residents have died from COVID-19 and the county has recorded more than 66,000 cases.

Residents were hospitalized more than 2,400 times in Washington County for COVID-19 since March 2020, while 452 cases required treatment in intensive care units, as of Friday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though case rates have been trending down for the past two months, there is still a “high” level of transmission of the coronavirus in Washington County in mid-March, according to the CDC.

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

The first came in November 2020, when Washington County’s seven-day rolling average of new cases hit 302, the data show. That figure was well below 50 before the start of the surge.

The county experienced a massive surge in cases starting in the fall of 2021. The seven-day rolling average steadily climbed from about 50 cases in mid-August to more than 275 by early December.

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The data show Washington County’s seven-day rolling average dropped off again for several weeks before starting to surge again after Christmas. The county’s seven-day average of COVID-19 cases reached its highest point — more than 775 cases — on Jan. 27, according to the data.

Washington County officials twice reported more than 1,000 new cases in daily data updates during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic. Both were in January 2022.

The county’s seven-day rolling average of new cases has been under 50 since March 2.

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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.

Residents ages 19-49 account for almost half of all COVID-19 cases recorded in Washington County over the past two years, while kids 5-18 account for about 18 percent of cases, the data show. Just over 9 percent of cases were reported among residents 65 and older.

Almost 72 percent of cases were recorded among white residents, who make up about 86 percent of Washington County’s population.

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About 6.5 percent of all cases were recorded among Asian residents, who make up about 5.5 percent of the county’s population, while 6.3 percent of cases were recorded among Black residents, who account about 4.5 percent of the county’s population, CDC statistics show.

Eight percent of cases were recorded among residents who identified their race as “other,” which includes American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander and multiracial residents. Those residents make up about 4.2 percent of the county’s population, the data show.

Seventy percent of Washington County’s roughly 270,000 residents are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, including 93 percent of residents 65 and older, according to CDC data on the county’s COVID-19 data dashboard.

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The data show that almost 14,000 residents received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine but not a second dose to be fully vaccinated.

Minnesota health officials reported 10 new deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, including one Washington County resident. That takes the county’s pandemic death toll to 474, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

The state has reported 12,321 deaths from COVID-19, as of Friday, including 5,642 in long-term-care or assisted-living facilities.