COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota saw their first weekly decline since the global pandemic swept into the state, but officials cautioned Saturday that it could be an aberration rather than the start of a welcome trend.
A large one-day jump in patients needing ICU beds buttressed the note of caution as the state's stay-at-home order expires Monday and more businesses and retailers reopen.
"We want to be out. We want to just get back to life," said Kris Ehresmann, the director of infectious disease at the Minnesota Department of Health. "But it's really important that people continue to maintain social distancing — continue to be cautious — because our goal is to make sure that our system always has the capacity to care for people who need care."
With 17 deaths reported Saturday, a total of 700 Minnesotans have now died in the pandemic. The Health Department also reported 740 new cases, with the number of patients needing intensive care growing from 200 as of Friday's data release to 225 Saturday.
Rules that have kept people at home and closed businesses have been tough on Minnesotans, so the modest changes easing restrictions starting this week are understandable, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
But he called the upward trend in cases "a real challenge" and the rise in ICU patients "very concerning."
"The public just needs to know, for their own decisionmaking, that this is the time we've probably seen the most virus activity in the Twin Cities, right now, since this whole thing began back in January," Osterholm said. "From that standpoint, people need to make decisions: What are they going to do? The governor's not forcing anybody to necessarily be in public."
COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness that brings the greatest risk to those 65 and older as well as residents of long-term care facilities. The chance of serious illness is also greater for those with a number of underlying medical conditions ranging from lung disease, heart problems and cancer to severe obesity, diabetes and certain kidney ailments.