State officials say they’re making progress controlling the spread of COVID-19 at congregate care facilities — which have borne the brunt of coronavirus deaths so far. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says for nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in particular, fewer are reporting new COVID cases — “but also among facilities that have, or ever have had confirmed cases, we’re seeing that a pretty good majority of them are what we would consider to be stable, meaning they’ve not had any new cases in at least a week.” Malcolm says data indicate that more congregate care facilities are able to better control COVID-19 outbreaks when they occur.
And officials say the weekly number of new COVID-19 deaths is dropping as a percentage of Minnesota’s population — plus fewer people are requiring I-C-U care as COVID-19 begins to affect proportionately more young people.