21 more deaths push Minnesota COVID-19 fatalities to 200

Twenty-one more people have died from COVID-19 complications, putting the state's death toll at 200.

Thursday's death count, the highest yet, is the third consecutive day with double-digit totals.

Another 221 people have tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Altogether there have been 2,942 people sickened by COVID-19 since the pandemic was first detected in the state in March.

About 25% of those infected have needed hospitalization. There are 268 COVID-19 patients at the state's hospitals, including 104 who need intensive care.

While slightly more than 100 intensive care beds have been used for COVID-19 patients for the past eight days, the state's overall ICU bed capacity has held steady with about 300 available beds.

Of those who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, 1,536 have recovered and no longer need isolation.

The new COVID-19 cases were discovered among the 2,204 COVID-19 tests that were run Wednesday. That's an increase from the average of 1,300 patients samples that have been tested daily since mid-April.

Under an ambitious plan announced Wednesday, the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic will team up to conduct testing for other health care systems that don't have the capacity.

The goal is to perform diagnostic testing on up to 20,000 patient samples a day.