St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - State health officials reported two new milestones concerning Minnesota's response to the coronavirus pandemic today.

The Minnesota Department of Health's daily update shows the number of residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that have died after contracting COVID-19 is now above 1000 and the number of Minnesotans who have recovered from the illness and no longer need to be isolated has risen above 25,000.

22 of the 25 coronavirus related deaths reported today involved residents of long-term care or assisted living centers. Overall, 1015 of the 1274 COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota have involved nursing home and other long-term care facility residents.

At the same time the health department was reporting the grim statistics, state health officials also reported progress in controlling and eliminating outbreaks in the congregate living facilities. State Infectious Disease Expert Kris Ehresmann noted that of the over 800 long-term care centers that have seen at least one coronavirus case among staff and/or residents, over 50-percent are no longer dealing with an outbreak. She says that means they have not had an active case involving a resident or staff member for at least 28 days.

Today's report from the Minnesota Department of Health also shows the decline in coronavirus-related hospitalizations continues. After peaking in the final days of May, the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 and the number of ICU beds used by coronavirus patients has been dropping. There are currently 403 people hospitalized due to the infection with 191 of them in intensive care units. The overall number of hospitalizations is down about 200 from the peak and about 70 fewer ICU beds are being used to care for COVID-19 patients.

Testing for the new virus hit a new high mark yesterday in the state. Over 13,000 tests were completed and they detected 490 new infections. 13 of the new cases were in Olmsted County.

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