70% of coronavirus deaths in Minnesota have occurred in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
113 of Minnesota’s 143 COVID-19 related deaths have occured in nursing homes or other care facilities for the elderly as of Tuesday, according to MPR. 130 of Minnesota’s 375 (34%) care facilities have reported cases of the virus, reports the Star Tribune. The state has counted 2,567 total COVID-19 cases, half of which have recovered to the point of no longer requiring isolation.
So far 113 of 160 MN Covid-19 deaths are in long-term care facilities.
— Tom Hauser (@thauserkstp) April 21, 2020
Minnesota houses 80,000 (~1%) of its 5,460,000 citizens in nursing homes, according to the Tribune. About one tenth of one percent of those residents have died of COVID-19.
The Minnesota Department of Health also noted a dip in the number of new cases, Tuesday, down to to under 100 for the first time in about a week, per a local CBS affiliate.
Minnesota only accounts for .2% of nationwide coronavirus deaths according to numbers reported Tuesday afternoon by Google Statistics.
However, despite the low fatality rate for coronavirus outside elderly populations, Governor Tim Walz says conditions in the state will not return to normal any time soon. “I think most of these retailers and businesses understand they’re going to have to change the way business is being done for about the next 18 months,” he declared at a recent press conference.
The governor recently called President Donald Trump to discuss the pandemic situation in Minnesota. Trump described his conversation with Walz as “very nice.” This comes just two days after the president sent a tweet that appeared to encourage a protest against Minnesota’s stay at home order.
Received a very nice call from @GovTimWalz of Minnesota. We are working closely on getting him all he needs, and fast. Good things happening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2020
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
