![Cheryl Odegaard, a medical assistant at St. Luke's Respiratory Clinic, administered a COVID-19 test to a patient in their drive thru testing site on Thursday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com St. Luke's Respiratory Clinic administers an average of 50 COVID-19 tests each day. The testing site saw around that number on Thursday September 24, 2020.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/7WONOVJIIKQIJWSGAQ7U6ZZCPY.jpg?&w=1080)
Minnesota is expected to reach a major milestone early this week by completing 2 million coronavirus tests.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported on Sunday four more deaths and 1,077 new confirmed infections on a volume of about 25,000 completed tests.
That brings the total number of completed tests to 1,981,100. Over the weekend, the daily number of completed tests ranged between 20,000 and 30,000 so it's likely the state will surpass 2 million tests Monday or Tuesday.
As of Sunday, the number of confirmed cases in Minnesota reached 96,734, while the pandemic's death toll reached 2,008.
The latest numbers show 50 patients were newly admitted to hospitals, compared with 52 on Saturday.
COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus that surfaced late last year. Since the first case was reported in Minnesota in early March, 7,493 people have been hospitalized.
Residents of long-term care and assisted-living facilities accounted for one of the newly announced deaths. People at greatest risk from COVID-19 include those 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities and those with underlying medical conditions.
Those health problems range from lung disease and serious heart conditions to severe obesity and diabetes. People undergoing treatment for failing kidneys also run a greater risk, as do those with cancer and other conditions where treatments suppress immune systems.
