COVID-19 weekly update: Omicron’s most contagious variant now dominant in MN
Minnesota’s ongoing surge in coronavirus cases isn’t going anywhere, but it also doesn’t appear to be getting worse — at least not yet.
The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has been the dominant strain in Minnesota since January. In recent weeks, an even more contagious subvariant, called omicron BA.5, has been the growing cause of infections in Minnesota and nationwide.
Cases tend to spike when the weather drives activities indoors due to cold or heat. Health officials already anticipate a fall spike in cases, and that could be exacerbated by the high transmissibility of the omicron variants.
The omicron BA.5 strain has shown it can evade the immunity provided by both vaccines and previous COVID-19 infection. Vaccines continue to protect against severe illness and death, but immunity protection wanes considerably after five months and boosters are recommended.
The Minnesota Department of Health recently moved to a weekly reporting schedule for the coronavirus, further clouding the current state of the outbreak. Earlier this spring, the state stopped reporting test positivity rates because so many people now screen for COVID-19 at home and those results are not generally reported to health officials.
To gauge the severity of the outbreak, health officials now focus on things like new cases per capita, hospitalizations and the prevalence of coronavirus genetic material in wastewater.
For the last week of June, Minnesota recorded 9,167 new coronavirus infections — 1,300 per day — roughly the same as the week before. The weekly rate of cases per capita, at roughly 23 per 100,000 residents, remains more than double the state’s high-risk threshold.
Hospitalizations have also held relatively steady with 385 patients requiring care, including 45 in critical condition. Hospital capacity remains tight in the Twin Cities metro largely due to staffing shortages.
Twenty-seven more deaths from COVID-19 were reported the last week of June, bringing the state’s pandemic total to 12,837.
The amount of coronavirus genetic material in Twin Cities sewage remained flat, according to a July 1 report from the Metropolitan Council. Wastewater surveillance by the University of Minnesota shows fluctuations in the virus throughout the rest of the state.
Health officials continue to recommend vaccines and booster doses to everyone who is eligible. Children under 5 recently became eligible to get vaccinated.
About 68 percent of Minnesota’s 5.7 million residents have completed at least their initial series of vaccines, but only about 31 percent are up-to-date with the recommended booster shots.
