8 COVID-Related Deaths in Tri-County Area on Tuesday

ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Department Of Health says a record 56 people in Minnesota have died in one day due to complications related to COVID-19.

Eight of those deaths are in the tri-county area including five in Stearns County, two in Sherburne County, and one in Benton County.

Stearns has now had 66 people die from the coronavirus, Sherburne has had 30 deaths, and Benton is at 23. Statewide the death toll is up to 2,754.

MDH says there were 4,900 new positive cases Tuesday with 185 of them in Stearns, 147 in Sherburne, and 37 in Benton.

The positivity rates by state in the upper Midwest:
#1 - South Dakota - 54%
#2 - Iowa - 48.3%
#9 - North Dakota - 16.1%
#11 - Wisconsin - 15.4%
#15 - Minnesota - 13.5%

More than 12,000 people have had to be hospitalized with COVID since the pandemic began, with more than 3,000 of them requiring time in the ICU.

We're nearing 200,000 total positive cases in Minnesota, however over 157,000 are no longer in isolation.