MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota health officials said Tuesday that a daily decline in newly confirmed COVID-19 cases is encouraging, but they cautioned against reading too much into short-term fluctuations after the extended holiday weekend.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported 3,570 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday and 22 new deaths, figures that are low by standards of recent weeks. Throughout the pandemic, daily numbers on Tuesdays have typically been lower, due to reduced testing and diagnostic activity on weekends.
"We do remain in a very critical stage of the pandemic," said Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. "We know, based on the rapid case growth of last week and the week before, that we are still in for some very challenging weeks ahead in terms of tight hospital capacity, and of course we await to see the effects of the holiday gatherings and travel."
The lower numbers reported Tuesday come amid fewer tests being conducted. A total of 22,757 tests were reported Monday — just about half of the number of tests reported a day before, and less than one-fourth of the total number of tests reported on Saturday.
There were 1,564 new cases per 100,000 people in Minnesota over the past two weeks, which ranks fourth in the country for new cases per capita. One in every 133 people in Minnesota tested positive in the past week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
A total of 3,615 people in Minnesota have died from COVID-19 complications since the pandemic began.
Any impact from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend likely won't be fully known for a few more days, as symptoms of COVID-19 emerge up to 14 days after someone is exposed. Gov. Tim Walz has said that guidance against gatherings over Thanksgiving will likely be similar for Christmas.
