ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting 5,277 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and 43 more deaths.

On Wednesday Stearns County had 146 new positive cases, Sherburne County had 142 new cases, and Benton County had 61 new cases.  One of the 43 deaths was a Benton County resident in their late 90s.

State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says it's good that Minnesotans continue to get vaccinated, but as the Delta wave continues to surge...

right now we find ourselves in a truly alarming spike in cases in recent days. Our exhausted healthcare workers, and our exhausted public health workers, continue their truly heroic efforts to protect Minnesotans, but every day now we're seeing dozens of Minnesotans dying from an illness they didn't have to get

Malcolm calls the Delta spike of COVID cases surging statewide "alarming."

the tragedy in this current spike in cases is that more than ever we have the tools and the knowledge to minimize the impact of this virus, but a sizable number of people, here in Minnesota and in other states, are not using those tools, some because they mistakenly think COVID is over or it's no big deal

There have been more than 831,000 positive cases of coronavirus--including reinfections--reported statewide. So far, 8,925 people have died from COVID-19 in Minnesota.

This story is courtesy of the Minnesota News Network. 

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