Sherburne rated medium, Stearns and Benton rated low for CDC's community level of COVID

Anna Haecherl, St. Cloud Times
·2 min read
Supplies used in COVID-19 testing are ready for use Monday, Jan. 11, 2020, at the St. Cloud State University medical center.

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Sherburne County is considered to have a medium community level of COVID-19, while Benton and Stearns counties have low levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One indicator the CDC uses includes the number of cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days. The latest data was measured from July 14-20.

Sherburne County had 127.52 cases per 100,000 people during this time frame. While the case rate is the lowest in the St. Cloud tri-county area, the county's COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people (10.4) and percentage of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 (5.7%) are what elevated it into the medium COVID-19 community level.

For communities with a medium COVID-19 community level, the CDC recommends individuals at high risk for severe illness talk to their healthcare provider about whether they need to wear a mask or take other measures.

More:MDH releases new COVID-19 trend data

Stearns County had 167 cases per 100,000 people during the same time frame and Benton County had 154 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. Both Stearns and Benton counties saw 3.9 new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 people and 3.8% of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 during that time.

Across the state, roughly 9,500 COVID-19 cases and 37 deaths to the disease were reported in Minnesota between July 14-20, according to the CDC.

Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 569 million cases and almost 6.38 million deaths worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. has reported more than 90 million cases and more than 1.02 million deaths.

Find a vaccine clinic near you by visiting https://mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/find-vaccine/index.jsp.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Sherburne rated medium, Stearns and Benton low for level of COVID-19