Cheryl Odegaard, a medical assistant at St. Luke’s Respiratory Clinic in Duluth, administered a COVID-19 test to a patient in their drive-through testing site last month. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Ten more people have died of COVID-19 in Minnesota, health officials reported Sunday.

The Minnesota Department of Health reported a net increase of 1,450 new confirmed coronavirus infections, according to a data release on Sunday morning. This follows a record high number of newly confirmed cases on Saturday of more than 1,500 cases and brings the total number of cases confirmed in Minnesota to 112,268. Statewide, the pandemic's toll reached 2,141 deaths.

Health officials are concerned about the spike in virus transmission in neighboring states as Minnesota is seeing a rise in hospitalizations, though COVID-19 patients account for just 12% of intensive care units statewide.

Residents of long-term care and assisted-living facilities accounted for three of the newly announced deaths, which came on a volume of about 29,755 completed tests. Minnesota is maintaining a positivity rate of about 5% for testing, which health officials said is another signal of further virus circulation.

The latest numbers show 52 patients were newly admitted to hospitals, compared with 51 on Saturday.

COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus that surfaced late last year. Since the first case was reported in Minnesota in early March, 8,354 people have been hospitalized.

People at greatest risk from COVID-19 include those 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities and those with underlying medical conditions.

Those health problems range from lung disease and serious heart conditions to severe obesity and diabetes. People undergoing treatment for failing kidneys also run a greater risk, as do those with cancer and other conditions where treatments suppress immune systems.

Most patients with COVID-19 don't need to be hospitalized. The illness usually causes mild or moderate sickness and many cases lack symptoms.

Numbers released Sunday show health care workers have accounted for 11,551 cases statewide. A total of 100,171 Minnesotans who were infected with the novel coronavirus no longer need to be in isolation.

Confirmed cases have been reported in all of the state's 87 counties.