MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota set new one-day highs for coronavirus testing and new cases, and tied a high for the most deaths in one day, health officials said Friday.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported 28 new deaths, equaling a high set Sunday, to raise the state’s death toll to 371.
The department also reported a new high of 594 patients had tested positive, a jump of 102 since Thursday, boosting the state’s total to 5,730. Officials have said the confirmed case count will accelerate as efforts to ramp up testing pay off. The department reported that state and private labs completed 4,553 more tests to set another one-day high and raise the state’s total to 74,829.
That stepped-up testing turned up 124 new confirmed cases in the hot spot of Nobles County of southwestern Minnesota, where the JBS pork plant in Worthington had to shut down because of the outbreak.
The department also reported that 369 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, up four from Thursday, and 118 of them were in intensive care, down 12 from Thursday.
Health officials say the real number of Minnesotans infected with the coronavirus is likely much higher because most people don’t get tested, and studies suggest that people can be infected without feeling sick.
