Minnesota's COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen below the high-risk threshold of 10% for the first time since December, a sign the omicron variant wave of the pandemic continues to ease.
The last time the state recorded the 9.9% positivity rate it had in the week ending Feb. 9 was Christmas Day. It peaked at nearly 24% in January as the omicron variant spread rapidly but caused a lower rate of severe infections.
Hospitalizations also are trending downward, from 898 on Monday to 808 on Wednesday, including 125 people in intensive care.
On Thursday, the state reported another 27 COVID-19 deaths and 1,853 infections.
State health officials this week expanded a program to provide free at-home rapid tests to Minnesotans. The Minnesota Department of Health is distributing 347,000 more rapid antigen test kits, each of which contains two tests, to local and tribal public health agencies and food shelves. Providers will tell their communities how to pick up the tests.
"Rapid testing is a key tool Minnesotans can use to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19 to their families and their communities. Even as transmission rates go down, it's important that Minnesotans use resources like rapid testing if they feel sick," Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a statement.
Minnesota has reported more than 1.4 million positive cases and 11,930 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
Back-to-back pandemic waves stemming from the fast-spreading delta and omicron variants have kept Minnesotans on edge since July. Hospitals were overcrowded in early December with the number of open adult ICU beds in the single digits.
Hospitalizations briefly ticked up during the omicron wave, especially in children under 4 who were ineligible for vaccination, but COVID-19 ICU numbers did not rise.
To date, more than 3.6 million Minnesotans have been fully vaccinated and more than 2.1 million have received booster shots, the Health Department reports.
_______
