Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
COVID-19
David H. Montgomery

COVID continues to fade in Minnesota

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Minnesota is dealing with something new in the COVID-19 pandemic: good news. 

Nearly every key COVID-19 metric is quickly heading down. Cases are averaging just over 1,000 per day, down from 3,000 per day. Less than 5 percent of Minnesota’s tests are coming back positive, half from early February. And hospitalizations are at their lowest level in six months, with fewer than 100 ICU beds used for COVID patients, down from close to 400 in December.

A line graph.

Counts are dropping in every age group and every racial or ethnic group.

And Minnesota’s not alone, neighboring states are also seeing steep declines.

Another encouraging sign comes from the Metropolitan Council’s wastewater analysis in the Twin Cities. Their measurements of COVID-19 particles in metro wastewater match up closely with case counts. They show levels not seen since last July. 

Though improvement is across the state, some places are showing better numbers than others. Per capita case counts are twice as high in northwestern Minnesota than the metro area. The northwest has the highest case levels in the state, but even they are a fraction of where they were in January.

A line graph.

A possible twist in the numbers comes from a variant of COVID-19. The BA.2 variant of the COVID-19 virus has been detected in the state. But, so far, there no signs it’s causing any sort of spike in new cases. Most COVID in Minnesota is the original BA.1 strain.

Based on how the virus has behaved in the past, we can probably expect the next month or so to be pretty good. Beyond that, all bets are off.