372 more COVID-19 cases with 14 new deaths in Minnesota

Minnesota health officials confirmed another 372 cases of COVID-19 with 14 more deaths.

Since the first case was detected in the state in mid-March, there have been a total of 25,870 infections from the new coronavirus along with 1,086 deaths.

About 84% of all fatalities have been among people 70 or over.

But nearly 80% of all infections have sickened state residents under 60.

Among the deaths announced Wednesday, 10 were residents of long-term care facilities, bringing the total number of deaths in that population to 876.

There have been 855 nursing homes or assisted living facilities that have had at least one confirmed case, Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Currently, 439 facilities still have at least one case, which at some places could be an infected staff member.

"Frankly every one of them needs to be prepared for the eventuality that they will have cases," Malcolm said.

Because COVID-19 can be spread by those who don't have symptoms, many of the outbreaks have likely been caused by staff members unknowingly bringing in the disease after becoming infected in the community.

Once an infection starts in a facility, it can spread easily and most residents have some type of underlying health condition, such as obesity, diabetes and heart, lung or kidney diseases, that makes them more susceptible to complications caused by the virus.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 held steady at 537, unchanged from Tuesday. But six more people needed intensive care, bringing the total number in those hospital units to 254.

About 80% of those who become infected recover without any medical intervention. As of Wednesday, 21,169 people no longer need to be isolated.

After shutting down over the weekend as a precautionary measure due to possible protests, the state's public health laboratory processed 1,061 samples, while private labs ran 5,910 tests.