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Minnesota tops 3,200 COVID-19 deaths

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials have reported 51 new deaths and more than 6,200 additional infections.

The Star Tribune reports that since the pandemic arrived in Minnesota in March, the state’s pandemic tallies include 262,952 positive cases, 14,745 hospitalizations and 3,201 deaths.

Residents of long-term care and assisted-living facilities accounted for 31 of the newly announced deaths, and 2,192 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Numbers released Saturday show health care workers have accounted for 20,018 positive cases. More than 211,000 people who were infected no longer need to be isolated.

COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus that surfaced late last year. People at greatest risk include those 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities and those with underlying medical conditions.

Those health problems range from lung disease and serious heart conditions to severe obesity and diabetes. People undergoing treatment for failing kidneys also run a greater risk, as do those with cancer and other conditions where treatments suppress immune systems.

Most patients with COVID-19 don’t need to be hospitalized. Most illnesses involve mild or moderate symptoms; many cases are asymptomatic.

Iowa reports over 3,000 new cases Sunday

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 3,000 new virus cases and 33 deaths were reported Sunday in Iowa.

State officials said 3,401 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Sunday to give Iowa 210,061 cases since the pandemic began. The number of deaths linked to the virus grew to 2,192.

The number of people hospitalized with the virus in Iowa remained at a high level Saturday even though it declined slightly to 1,340 from the previous day’s 1,416. Out of that total, 255 patients were in intensive care, down from 276 on Friday.

The state said 92 of Iowa’s 99 counties had 14-day positivity rates over 15% on Sunday, and six more counties reported rates between 10% and 15%.

Iowa had the fourth-highest rate of new cases Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Over the past week, one person in every 123 people in Iowa was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from 2,496.14 new cases per day on Nov. 7 to 3,034.29 new cases per day on Saturday.

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