COVID-19 cases up in region this week, but still lower than early December

The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Dec. 31—MANKATO — Area counties combined for 651 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases this week, an increase from last week but relatively low compared to early December.

This week's total was a 20.6% increase compared to the 540 cases during the prior week. Both weeks were impacted by reporting delays related to Christmas and New Year's Eve.

The Minnesota Department of Health didn't have a case update on Christmas Eve, leading to some cases from last week being reported in this week's total.

There was also no update on New Year's Eve, which means next week will include cases that would've normally been reported on Friday. With the holiday disruptions, comparing Monday-Thursday totals in recent weeks gives a better idea of how cases are trending.

Compared to the 540 and 651 new cases confirmed from Monday-Thursday over the most recent two weeks, the two weeks before then had 732 and 1,088 new cases between their Mondays and Thursdays.

So the 651 new cases this week, while a rise from last week, still looked encouraging compared to totals earlier in December. On the other hand, the rise comes as health officials anticipate a spike in the coming weeks caused by the new omicron variant.

Other key metrics offer further evidence of a slight worsening COVID-19 trend in the region this week. The positivity rate in the nine counties, measuring the percent of tests resulting in positive cases, rose from about 9% to 10.1%, according to weekly data from the health department.

A drop in testing over the Christmas period helps explain some of the increase. Large swings up and down in individual counties were likely the result of this.

Regionwide, though, the increase corresponds generally with what happened statewide. Minnesota's positivity rate rose from 7.8% to 10.7%.

Rates at 5% or below are considered encouraging signs of case spread being under control. South-central Minnesota and the state as a whole haven't reached sustained levels below 5% in months.

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