More than 700 Minnesota hospital beds are now filled with COVID-19 patients, a reflection of a worsening pandemic that has caused 145,465 known infections and 2,437 deaths.
The state totals include 18 deaths reported Friday by the Minnesota Department of Health and a new single-day high of 3,165 infections with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The updated total of 738 COVID-19 patients in Minnesota inpatient beds is a single-day high as well and includes 176 people in intensive care due to breathing problems or other complications.
Hospitals may be seeing more COVID-19 activity than in the spring, but Dr. Rahul Koranne of the Minnesota Hospital Association said they are better prepared to handle the latest surge and to adjust surgery schedules and take other steps if the spread of the virus accelerates.
“If there continues to be increased community spread and that results in a much higher number of Minnesotans needing both ICU care or non-ICU care, we have, operationally, dials that we will continue to fine-tune within the hospitals,” he said.
Only 15% of ICU patients right now have COVID-19, meaning hospitals are providing surgeries and the majority of critical care to patients with strokes, heart attacks and other conditions. The state’s pandemic dashboard shows that 943 ICU beds are filled with non-COVID patients, and that another 400 are immediately available.
The infections reported Friday included 3,083 confirmed through molecular diagnostic testing and 82 classified as probable due to their confirmation with antigen testing that is faster but slightly less accurate. The overall total includes 603 probable infections amid rising use of antigen testing, particularly in the monitoring of long-term care facilities to detect any outbreaks among residents or staff.
State infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said infections among staff and residents of long-term care facilities have started to increase again — with 186 identified on Tuesday alone. Prevention measures had stemmed a high rate of long-term care outbreaks and deaths in Minnesota this spring, to the point that the state had one of the lowest rates of infections in these facilities in the nation this summer.
“That work only gets us so far,” Ehresmann said. “We have an incredibly high rate of COVID transmission in our communities and that places tremendous pressure on the safeguards we put in place to prevent COVID outbreaks in long-term care.”
Age and underlying health conditions raise COVID-19 risks for long-term care residents, who have suffered roughly 70% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths. That includes 12 of the deaths reported Friday.
While increased diagnosed infections are somewhat due to increased testing activity, state health officials note the positivity rate of diagnostic testing is nearing 7%. Such an increase suggests that the increase in infections is due to broader spread of the virus.
The state hasn’t reported a positivity rate of more than 7% since May, when testing resources were limited and targeted at patients with symptoms and high-risk workplaces and long-term care facilities. Now, testing is broadly available, including at seven free state saliva-testing sites, and offered to people regardless of symptoms.
Hospitalizations also are a key indicator of the pandemic, because they aren’t as swayed by changes in availability of diagnostic testing. Even so, the nature of COVID-19 hospitalizations has changed over time.
The average length of hospital stay for COVID-19 patients is now three to four days, down from four to five days earlier in the pandemic, Ehresmann said.
New therapeutics such as the antiviral remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone have helped to improve outcomes. A state review of COVID-19 hospitalizations in May showed a 15% death rate, but updated totals as of mid-October showed that the rate had dropped to 10%.
The supply of ventilators was a concern during the first pandemic wave in the spring because of the number of COVID-19 patients unable to breath without support. Earlier use of less-invasive oxygen management has reduced reliance on ventilators in hospitals, though.
The state pandemic dashboard lists 462 ventilators in use by patients with COVID-19 and other unrelated medical issues. Another 1,191 ventilators remain immediately available.
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October 30, 2020 at 11:20PM
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Minnesota reports record 3165 virus infections, 18 more COVID-19 deaths - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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