MDH: 8 new COVID deaths, 257 new cases

Friday, the Minnesota Department of Health reported eight new deaths from COVID-19 and 257 newly reported positive COVID-19 tests.

Meanwhile, there have been a total of 5.33 million COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Minnesota, with 2.94 million receiving the Pfizer vaccine, 2.16 million receiving the Moderna vaccine and 239,864 receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to MDH. Another 36 vaccinations are considered "unknown/missing" in the data.

So far, over 2.62 million people have completed the vaccine series, according to MDH data.

Of the 257 newly reported cases, 57 of them are noted as probable cases, according to MDH. A total of 43,499 probable cases have been reported since antigen testing began in September.

So far, 7,445 people have died from the coronavirus in Minnesota. Of those deaths, 411 are listed as probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 4,439 long-term care facility deaths have been reported.

To date, 32,189 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized in Minnesota and 6,535 patients have been in the ICU.

According to MDH, the new positive COVID-19 cases in Minnesota reported on Friday moved the state’s total to 602,134 since pandemic record-keeping began. A total of 592,294 patients have recovered or are recovering and no longer need isolation.

As of Friday, over 10 million COVID-19 tests have been completed in Minnesota.

KSTP’s complete COVID-19 coverage

See the full Minnesota COVID-19 situation update here.

According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, the virus has infected more than 172.2 million people worldwide and killed over 3.7 million people.

Over 2.03 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide as of Friday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, patients with confirmed COVID-19 have mild to severe respiratory problems, with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. Some patients report a loss of smell and/or taste and having muscle aches, headache, sore throat, and/or chills and shaking.

Note: According to MDH – "Because all data are preliminary, the change in number of cumulative positive cases and deaths from one day to the next may not equal the newly reported cases or deaths."