Minnesota health officials announced 453 new COVID-19 confirmed cases and 13 deaths on Thursday.
The pandemic has sickened 29,316 state residents and caused 1,249 fatalities due to complications from the new coronavirus.
Most of the deaths have been among residents of long-term care facilities. Ten of the deaths announced Thursday were nursing home or assisted-living residents for a total of 994 deaths.
The disease is also affecting other facilities, such as shelters or residential substance abuse treatment centers, but the pace of outbreaks is beginning to slow, according to Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.
Last week, about 23 new facilities a day were reporting outbreaks, but this week the average has been about five facilities a day, Malcolm said Wednesday.
“We don’t know for sure what shape the pandemic will take us in the days to come,” she said. “This disease is continuing to prove highly unpredictable.”
People with underlying health conditions, including heart, lung and kidney disease, are more vulnerable to COVID-19 complications.
However, most people who become ill from the coronavirus have mild symptoms and typically recover without medical intervention.
So far, 24,870 people who have tested positive no longer need to isolate themselves.
The number of people needing hospital care due to COVID-19 has generally been decreasing, with 411 in the hospital, a decrease of 16 from Wednesday. Of those, 196 needed intensive care, an increase of three.
There were 12,071 COVID-19 tests processed by the state’s public health laboratory as well as private labs in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Wednesday, a one-day increase of 3,183.
