Coronavirus In Minnesota: Number Of COVID-19 Cases Jumps To 1,336; 7 More Deaths Reported
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- COVID-19 has claimed seven more lives in Minnesota, bringing the state's death toll to 57.
The Minnesota Department of Health announced Friday that the state's total number of lab-confirmed cases has reached 1,336, up 94 from Thursday. This is the biggest single-day jump in cases since the outbreak began in the state a little over a month ago.
Even so, health officials have consistently cautioned that the actual number of infections in the state is likely much higher, as testing has been limited.
So far, more than 33,000 people have been tested in Minnesota. Of those who've tested positive, 732 are recovering and no longer need to be in isolation. Meanwhile, 143 are battling the pathogen in the hospital, with 64 patients in intensive care beds -- up one in the last 24 hours.
Several of the deaths in Minnesota happened with patients who lived in long-term care facilities. (Officials have identified facilities affected by COVID-19 here.) The median age of those killed by the disease is 87. Still, a central Minnesota funeral home says that a 38-year-old man died of the novel coronavirus over the weekend.
On Thursday, the Health Department responded to media reports saying that officials are overcounting deaths in Minnesota.
Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said there's been "confusion" over the official guidelines on attributing deaths to COVID-19.
"[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines] are detailed, it's attempting to correct records that were unclear, for very good reasons I think, to get the most accurate count we can," she said. "Not in any way seeking to inflate the numbers."
She said that the notion that there are incentives to overstate the number of deaths -- an idea that's been widely shared on social media -- was not true.
"There is absolutely no policy or political motivation to increase the number of deaths that are reported," Malcolm said.
Earlier this week, Gov. Tim Walz extended Minnesota's stay-at-home order to May 4 while making some changes to what business could operate. Now back to work are landscaping services and garden stores.
The governor says the order and its enforcement of social distancing are buying time for the state's health care providers to gear up for when Minnesota sees its peak level of COVID-19 cases.
The disease, which originated in Wuhan, China, last year, attacks the victim's lungs. The illness causes mild symptoms for most people, but it can be deadly to the elderly or those with compromised lungs. In some major metropolitan communities in the U.S., the hardest hit communities are often people of color.
According to researchers, the current death toll in the U.S. has breached 16,000 -- higher than any country but Italy.
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