St. Louis Co. Jumps to 28 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, 1,154 Total Cases in Minnesota, Includes 632 Recoveries

DULUTH, Minn. – According to the Minnesota Department of Health, St. Louis County now has 28 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from 17 cases the day before.

As of Wednesday morning, the MDH website reported 1,154 total cases in the state and 39 deaths. The total number of cases includes 632 recoveries.

(courtesy: Minnesota Department of Health)

Of those confirmed cases 271 patients remain hospitalized and 64 of those hospitalized patients are in the ICU today.

On Wednesday, Sawyer County reported its first case saying the individual is self-isolating at home and they are working to determine how the person may have become infected.

Sawyer County Public Health is also contacting individuals the person had close contact with.

St. Louis County officials say a large parentage of the county’s new cases has been linked to St. Ann’s Residence in Duluth.

A press release sent out Wednesday afternoon by the county said St. Louis County Public Health, along with the Minnesota Department of Health and area health care partners are working with St. Ann’s staff to assist them with infection control recommendations, surge capacity, and supplies.

St. Louis County also says there is evidence that the virus is now being spread through community transmission.

“Community transmission means we cannot identify the source from which a person has caught the infection,” said Westbrook. “We have seen several cases this week that does not appear to be linked to travel, nor are they linked to a previously confirmed case.”

The county will be holding a news conference at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday to provide several COVID-19 updates to the public.

Gov. Tim Walz is also preparing to announce an extension to his stay-at-home order, which is aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

The governor told reporters Tuesday the extension would likely include some refinements, reflecting new data and modeling on how the outbreak is likely to develop but didn’t give details.

He has called a 2 p.m. news conference for the announcement.