Blue Earth County surpasses 500 COVID-19 cases; 8 new Minnesota deaths

(St. Paul, MN) – Fifteen new COVID-19 cases in Blue Earth County have pushed the total of confirmed positives past 500, as the state death toll rose by eight.

The Minnesota Department of Health also reported 11 new cases in Rice County, and five in Mower County.  There were three new cases in each Brown and Nicollet counties.

Minnesota has now had 39,589 people test positive for the virus.  Young adults in their 20’s make up the largest portion of cases, with 8,818 confirmed positive tests among that age group.  People in their 30’s account for 7,631 cases.  There have been 3,672 people between the ages of five and 20 who have tested positive for the virus.  Children age five and under make up 847 COVID-19 cases in the state.

In Blue Earth County, patients as young as 22-year-old have been hospitalized due to the virus.  That’s according to the county COVID-19 statistics website, which was updated Wednesday morning to include Tuesday’s data.  Blue Earth County data echoes the state data on age statistics.  People in their 20’s make up at least 301 of the county’s 510 total cases.

In Minnesota, likely exposure to the virus often can’t be traced.  MDH reports 8,441 coronavirus cases were due to community spread with no known contact with an infected person.  Congregate care settings account for 7,171 of the state’s total positive COVID-19 cases.

Minnesota’s death toll now stands at 1,485.

Here are the case totals around Southern Minnesota:

Blue Earth – 510 (2 deaths)
Brown – 37 (2 deaths)
Cottonwood – 137
Faribault – 60
Fillmore – 30
Freeborn – 298
Jackson – 55
Le Sueur – 110 (1 death)
Lyon – 327 (2 deaths)
McLeod – 94
Martin – 171 (5 deaths)
Mower – 965 (2 deaths)
Murray – 66
Nicollet – 176 (12 deaths)
Nobles – 1,672 (6 deaths)
Redwood – 20
Renville – 36 (2 deaths)
Rice – 859 (8 deaths)
Sibley – 55 (2 deaths)
Steele – 239 (1 death)
Waseca – 71
Watonwan – 240