Minnesota is probably seeing the start of a significant omicron surgeJanuary 3, 2022 4:25 PMHappy New Year, everyone! Though the fact that we're now in our third calendar year of this newsletter is not perhaps the happiest thought for anyone. One thing is indisputable right now: Minnesota is seeing case counts and positivity rates shoot up.
Omicron is here in Minnesota, but we don't know if it's causing a surgeDecember 23, 2021 4:23 PMIs Minnesota experiencing an omicron-driven COVID-19 surge? Unfortunately, the data just can't give us firm answers.
Cases steadily falling as Minnesota passes 10,000 COVID deathsDecember 15, 2021 4:19 PMMinnesota's first COVID-19 death happened on March 19, 2020, and was reported to the public on March 21. Yesterday, 636 days after that first death, Minnesota reported its 10,000th COVID death — an average of nearly 16 deaths per day for the better part of two years.
Faint signs of hope after up-and-down weeksDecember 10, 2021 4:17 PMIt's been a wild up-and-down few weeks for Minnesota's COVID-19 outbreak. At the moment I write this, the news is a little bit encouraging, but I'm certainly not taking anything for granted any more.
Cases still rising — but more slowlyNovember 19, 2021 4:14 PMMinnesota's COVID-19 metrics moved in the wrong direction this week. But the manner in which they rose was less alarming than last week's disaster. What will next week hold? We'll find out.
What the data shows about how COVID-19 vaccines are working in MinnesotaNovember 12, 2021 4:08 PMIt's all bad. I'm not going to speculate today about when this surge will end or how bad things will get. Suffice to say everything is headed in the wrong direction. I'll lay that out today, and then break down a crucial question: what kind of impact are we observing from COVID-19 vaccines?
Our surge finds new life, with no downturn in sightNovember 5, 2021 4:06 PMI wish I were here telling you that last week's bump in cases was just a blip, and we've resumed the decline that we thought we were starting in mid-October. Alas, I must continue to be the bearer of bad news. For now at least, cases, positivity rate, hospitalizations and deaths all continue to rise across Minnesota.
Last week we peaked. This week we stalled. What's next?October 28, 2021 4:03 PMMinnesota's current COVID-19 wave is sort of like a roller coaster right now. We've been hauled upward for what seems like forever. Last week we finally went over the peak, and it seemed like we were in for a thrilling descent.
Has our long-awaited peak finally arrived?October 19, 2021 3:54 PMLook: I've burned myself before, so I'm going to be cautious here. But the numbers over the last few days have looked pretty encouraging that at long last, Minnesota's fourth wave might have peaked.
Not how we wanted this plateau to endOctober 8, 2021 3:56 PMn recent weeks I've complained about how Minnesota's COVID-19 metrics were hard to read — a lot of up-and-down, or conflicting metrics. Well, as anyone who's ever met a genie has had cause to say, be careful what you wish for.