The H1N1 flu pandemic continued its march across Minnesota last week, sending 225 people to the hospital - up sharply from the previous week.

Meanwhile, two more flu-related deaths were reported Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health.

The department identified one victim as an adult between the ages of 50 and 59 from south-central Minnesota who had no underlying medical problems (previously identified by his family as Michael Milbrath, a health-care administrator from Waseca). The other was an adolescent between the ages of 10 and 19 from the Twin Cities metro area who had underlying health conditions.

That brings the total number of Minnesota deaths to 12 since the virus emerged last spring, according to the Health Department.

The H1N1 flu also continued its spread among schools. According to the department's weekly report, as of Saturday, 288 schools reported outbreaks, compared with 230 the previous week. Those are schools where more than 5 percent of students were out sick.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School have been particularly hard hit, prompting high school officials to close the schools until Monday.

In an e-mail to parents Wednesday, school chief Bryn Roberts reported "more than 30 percent of our Upper School students are reported as absent [today], and over the past week approximately 45 percent of all Upper School students (more than 50 percent in some classes) have been ill and away from school."

Salem Lutheran School in Stillwater also is closed until Monday because more than 20 percent of its 192 students were out sick, said the Rev. Marcus Birkholz.

A total of 915 Minnesotans have been hospitalized with H1N1 complications since spring, including 655 since Sept. 1, the Health Department reported.

Children ages 5 to 18 remain the hardest-hit group. Roughly 140 of those hospitalized since Sept. 1 have been in that age group. The second-hardest-hit group is adults ages 25 to 49. Since September, about 90 have been hospitalized.

On the other hand, the 25 medical clinics that report flu information to the Health Department said about 7.5 percent of their patients last week reported flulike symptoms, down from 12.6 percent the previous week.

Staff writers Bob von Sternberg, Greg Patterson and Mary Lynn Smith contributed to this report.