31 New COVID-19 Cases in Stearns Co, 365 New Cases Statewide

ST. PAUL -- The number of positive COVID-19 cases took a big jump Monday in Stearns County as well as statewide.

The Minnesota Department of Health says they confirmed 31 news cases in Stearns County, bringing the county's total to 86. Across the state, there were 365 new cases Monday bringing that total to 4,181.

Stearns County says more COVID-19 testing is resulting in more positive cases.  The increase in cases is what Stearns County Public Health, CentraCare and the Minnesota Department of Health have prepared for.  Stearns County says they've seen a growing number of positive cases with hotspots in some of our communities.  You are being encouraged to call CentraCare Connect at 200-2300 if you have symptoms of coronavirus.  The service is available 24/7.

Last week we learned of positive cases at Pilgrim's Pride in Cold Spring and at Jennie-O in Melrose.  Whether the hotspots they are referring to are just those two locations or others in the county is not clear, WJON news has asked for more specifics as to where the positive cases in the county are occurring and we have not been given that information yet.

On the Minnesota Department of Health's website, they list the congregate care facilities that have had at least one positive case among the residents or staff members. According to that list, there are no positive cases in those facilities yet in Stearns, Benton, or Sherburne counties yet, as of Tuesday.

The new cases include 78 in Nobles County of southwestern Minnesota, the hardest-hit part of the state outside the Twin Cities, where the big JBS pork plant in Worthington had to shut down because of the outbreak.

The state completed just over 2,500 tests, bringing the total since testing began to nearly 64,000.

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 related complications went up by 15 to a total of 301. There are 314 people in the hospital today with the virus and 120 of them are in the ICU.

An additional 70 people have recovered from coronavirus with that total now at 1,912.

Local counties:
Stearns -- 86 cases, 0 deaths
Wright -- 35 cases, 1 death
Sherburne -- 16 cases, 0 deaths
Benton -- 6 cases, 0 deaths
Todd -- 4 cases, 0 deaths
Morrison -- 1 case, 0 deaths