MDH confirms 24 new COVID-19 deaths, 498 new cases

Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Health reported 498 new COVID-19 cases and 24 new deaths, moving the state’s totals to 6,228 cases and 395 deaths.

Of those 395 deaths, MDH said 317 were patients of long-term care facilities.

The department stated, as of Saturday, it has completed 12,869 tests and private labs have completed 66,138 tests, totaling up to 79,007 for the state. Gov. Tim Walz had stated his goal was to test 5,000 people a day and that goal is getting closer.

Of the total, 1,159 cases have required hospitalization, with 389 currently in the hospital and 135 in an Intensive Care Unit.

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According to MDH, 2,397 patients no longer need to be isolated.

According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, the virus has infected about 3.3 million people worldwide and killed about 239,000.

More than one million people have recovered worldwide as of Saturday.