Rising COVID-19 hospitalizations have put nine greater Minnesota counties in the federal high-risk pandemic category, though doctors continue to report mostly mild or even incidental infections among their inpatient cases.
The lack of severe cases among the 391 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Minnesota on Thursday remained the silver lining among otherwise worsening pandemic trends. The updated risk assessment by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday night put the seven-county Twin Cities metro area at moderate COVID-19 risk along with 20 other Minnesota counties.
Mask-wearing is recommended in public indoor spaces in Minnesota’s nine high-risk areas — including Dodge, Fillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Rice, Wabasha, and Winona counties in the southeast — to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Mask-wearing and avoiding large groups in poorly ventilated indoor spaces are logical protections right now, said Dr. Andrew Badley, an infectious disease specialist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, which is in the middle of the high-risk cluster.
“The number of people who are contacting me or my colleagues for advice is going up through the roof and that is always a harbinger of things to come,” he said.
The viral load increased 17% over the past week in sewage samples from the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant in St. Paul, and Friday’s report showed a shift in the type of coronavirus at work. The fast-spreading BA.2.12.1 variant, responsible for heightened pandemic activity in the northeastern U.S. this spring, accounted for 36% of the viral load in wastewater over the past week. That is an increase from 18% over the prior week.
Infection numbers have been rising as well. The Minnesota Department of Health reported another 2,919 cases on Friday despite the popularity of at-home rapid antigen tests that aren’t included in the public tallies.
The state on Friday also reported 12 COVID-19 deaths after reporting 11 on Thursday — the first back-to-back double digit counts in weeks. Eleven of the 12 newly reported deaths were in seniors, reflecting a shift in pandemic trends.
Seniors account for 82% of Minnesota’s 12,559 COVID-19 deaths, but only 72% of the deaths since June when a severe delta coronavirus variant emerged and presented an increased risk to younger, unvaccinated adults. They have made up 77% of the deaths since April, though.
Health officials encouraged Minnesotans to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations and also seek testing as soon as they are symptomatic to qualify for antiviral pills or monoclonal antibody infusions that can reduce the severity of their illnesses. Minnesota this week reported an on-hand supply of 20,000 courses of Paxlovid, which can reduce the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 by 90%, as well as 10,000 courses that had been used.
The state this week consolidated testing activity, shutting down sites at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul and Stillwater Armory, and opening one at a new Midway location in the former Herberger’s department store. The site will offer more consistent hours than the other two, which had to close occasionally for events, a state health official said.
Badley said vaccinations and treatments likely explain some of the milder COVID-19 cases being seen at Mayo. Hospitalizations include patients who are admitted for other purposes and only discover COVID-19 upon routine testing — though some of them end up needing treatment.
HealthPartners similarly reported this week that three-fourths of the patients with COVID-19 in its hospitals in Minnesota and western Wisconsin were admitted for other reasons and had no symptoms of infection.
On Thursday, only 35 of Minnesota’s COVID-19 hospitalizations — 9% of those patients — needed intensive care. That rate had been above 30% during severe waves earlier in the pandemic. The ICU number nonetheless reflects an increase from a low of 21 such patients in mid-April.
The CDC risk designation alerts counties when their COVID-19 levels could exhaust local hospital capacity. For now, overall hospital usage in Minnesota remains low. The state reported 1,038 ICU beds were occupied by COVID and non-COVID patients on Thursday, compared to a peak of 1,235 patients last November.
