Weekly Flu Update Shows Spike in Minnesota Flu Deaths

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - While the headlines are focused on the coronavirus, Minnesota health officials received reports of another 28 flu-related deaths in the state during the week that ended February 29.

That is almost 3 times the number of deaths blamed on the coronavirus nationwide and raised Minnesota's flu-related death toll for the current influenza season to 95, which matches the total number of deaths linked to the flu in the state during the 2018-2019 flu season.

The Health Department’s weekly update on flu activity shows the state has received just under 350 reports of flu-related hospitalizations, compared with over 440 the previous week. The total number of hospitalizations for the season now exceeds 3,250.

Minnesota did experience a modest uptick in the number of schools reporting outbreaks after 4 consecutive weeks of declining activity. The number was up 8 from the previous week at 43.  The number of outbreaks in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities dropped from 17 to 10.

The Health Department report also shows there was another drop in the percentage of people presenting flu-like symptoms during visits to outpatient clinics, while there was a slight increase in the percentage of positive test results among the samples submitted for lab testing.

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