Minnesota health data roundup: The latest on COVID, abortion and air quality

Current data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows hospital admissions due to COVID-19 continue to fall to an all-time low. In the week ending June 5, there were an average of just 6.4 new admissions per day, including 1.3 in intensive care units.

National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Minnesota’s most recent weekly rate (0.71 per 100,000 for the week ended June 10) is the lowest in the country. The statewide rate is also low (2 per 100,000), and no state exceeds the CDC’s “low” range (less than 10 per 100,000).

While Minnesota saw a 40 percent drop in weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations, neighboring states of Iowa and South Dakota each saw a 25 percent increase.

Positive COVID trends can also be found in the Twin Cities’ wastewater. According to the Metropolitan Council and the University of Minnesota Genomic Center, data from city sewage treatment plants shows COVID numbers are at their lowest since early July 2021.

The presence of COVID in wastewater across Minnesota remains low, according to the University of Minnesota’s parallel statewide wastewater analysis. While the central and south-central regions of the study saw increases over the past month, these numbers have been declining lately. The southwest region was the only region to see an increase in values ​​over the past week.

It’s also worth noting that the state’s COVID death rate has been averaging less than two a day since late May.

In the field of COVID treatment, a new study from the University of Minnesota, recently published in the Lancet, finds that a diabetes drug, metformin, significantly reduces the incidence of long-COVID, particularly when taken within three days of the first onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

The study also tested ivermectin and fluvoxamine, neither of which proved effective in reducing the incidence of long-COVID. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, discussed the findings on his latest podcast.

Nationally, online publication Politico recently reported that the FDA’s Vaccine Expert Panel voted unanimously to recommend “that fall COVID-19 boosters protect against the XBB strain of the virus — an Omicron subvariant and the world’s most widespread strain”. The new boosters could be available as early as September.

The Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services intends to reduce its COVID immunization data and no longer show how many Minnesota residents received a dose, completed the first round of vaccinations, and received a booster shot (79 percent, 72 percent, and 46 percent, respectively, according to the most recent MDH Update). ) to simply showing how many are up to date with the latest bivalent booster: 27 percent overall, including 68 percent of those 65+.

This change also impacts the department’s COVID “breakthrough” reporting, which compares COVID case, hospitalization and mortality rates according to immunization status (including unvaccinated individuals). While much of the state’s population has now developed some level of immunity from previous COVID-19 infections, the groundbreaking reporting nonetheless provided some evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness.

For example, the landmark report currently available shows that COVID-19 mortality among those aged 65 and older was 5.9 times higher in unvaccinated individuals than those who had completed the initial vaccination and 13 times higher than those who had received the bivalent booster dose.

Abortion: Minnesota’s rates were in the midfield for at least 2020

According to 2020 CDC data (latest annual data available), Minnesota ranks 16th in the number of officially reported abortions and 19th in comparing abortion rates per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44.

For every officially reported abortion in Minnesota, there were 163 live births, ranking the state 23rd overall by this ratio.

Minnesota ranked 17th in the number of abortions performed by out-of-state residents with 971, and of all officially reported abortions in the state, about one in 10 was performed by out-of-state residents, giving the state the highest overall percentage in this percentage 26th place.

According to MPR | StarTribune | According to a KARE11 poll in Minnesota last September, more than half of Minnesota’s likely voters believe abortion should be legal in general, including 30 percent who think abortion should be legal in all cases. According to nationwide polls conducted around the same time, this is roughly in line with what American adults as a whole think.

Ongoing air quality problems in Minnesota

Minnesota’s latest air quality warning — which covers most of the state’s population from St. Cloud throughout the Twin Cities metro area and south to Mankato, Rochester and Albert Lea — has been extended to 3 p.m. Saturday.

However, air quality concerns are likely to resurface. To keep up to date with the latest conditions, you can bookmark these resources: