And the percentage of kids hospitalized with COVID has doubled within the last year.
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Aug. 27, 2021
Good evening,
The percentage of Minnesota kids diagnosed with COVID-19 who have to be hospitalized remains very small but is rising. Speaking to reporters Friday, the state's infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said that last fall, about 0.7 percent of kids with COVID were hospitalized. Now that's 1.5 percent — still a low number, but double what we saw a year ago. And that's concerning.
Health commissioner Jan Malcolm said researchers are still trying to determine whether that increase is a result of more kids being infected or if coronavirus variants are leading to more-serious cases in younger people.
Minnesota’s late-summer COVID-19 wave hasn’t been as steep as the waves that hit last spring and fall, but this one is taking longer to crest. Friday’s Health Department data shows the slow upward grind continues.
Here’s a closer look at the numbers: The state averaged more than 1,500 new cases per day over the last seven reporting days — three times greater than the start of August and dramatically higher than the 91 daily at the start of July. Seven deaths were reported Friday. Around 71 percent of Minnesotans 16 and older have at least one vaccine dose.
For weather, it'll be cloudy tonight with a chance of showers and storms. Lows in the mid-50s to lower 60s north, to upper 60s south. And here's your weekend forecast.
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