Another 114 COVID-19 cases and nine deaths were confirmed by state health officials Monday.
114 new Minnesota COVID-19 cases with 9 more deaths
Nobles County, home to the JBS pork processing plant, has 76 confirmed cases.
April 20, 2020 at 8:17PM
![Medical workers administered drive-up COVID-19 tests Saturday outside the Sanford Worthington Clinic. ] aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com For weeks, Al Oberloh and others living in this meatpacking town of 10,000 people braced themselves for what they believed was inevitable: an outbreak of the deadly COVID-19. On Friday, their fears were confirmed. At least 19 cases were confirmed at the JBS pork plant here, an hour east of the Smithfield Foods pork plant in Sioux Falls, which was shut down last w](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/5XFSRSN7BWNPPVWDTJI2RHLYVE.jpg?&w=712)
This marks the sixth consecutive day that 100 or more confirmed cases were reported by state health officials.
That brings Minnesota's total COVID-19 case count to 2,470 since the first case was reported on March 6.
There have been a total of 143 deaths.
About 19% of those who are sick with COVID-19 are in the hospital, including 126 in intensive care. There was an increase of nine hospital admissions since Sunday, with 237 currently hospitalized.
Most infected with the new coronavirus have mild symptoms and recover without medical intervention. So far, 1,202 who have had a confirmed test result have recovered and no longer require isolation.
Most who have died have been elderly with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, kidney disease, hypertension and other chronic health conditions. The median age of those who have died is 84, with the youngest being 56 and the oldest 104.
In Nobles County, the home of the JBS pork processing plant that has a cluster of COVID-19 cases, the number of confirmed cases stood at 76, up from the 60 cases reported Sunday morning.
The pork plant will shut down indefinitely, the company said Monday.
On Sunday, the Minnesota Department of Health said it was investigating 69 potential cases in the county. Of the people interviewed, they found 26 plant employees, five family members and one person who worked in an Iowa plant.
Also during the weekend, 47 residents of the Meridian Manor assisted living facility in Wayzata were relocated Saturday to hospitals, other long-term care facilities or with family members. The evacuations were necessary because a majority of staff and administrators had fallen ill with COVID-19.
More details about the deaths and other developments in the COVID-19 outbreak will be released later Monday.
Glenn Howatt • 612-673-7192
Twitter: @GlennHowatt
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