Cook County reported its first case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to a news release from North Shore Health. The infected individual is a male Cook County resident in his 30s.
Per protocol, the Minnesota Department of Health will interview the individual and work to identify and contact people who have been in close physical contact with the infected person. Close physical contacts will be asked to quarantine for 14 days from the date of contact and will be asked to monitor themselves for fever and respiratory symptoms.
“We have been expecting and preparing for this,” Kurt Farchmin, interim medical director of North Shore Health, said. “By identifying the early cases, we can help people isolate so that the virus does not spread further. This is how we control how the virus enters our community and slow the curve.”
Cook County was one of two counties left in the state without a confirmed COVID-19 case. The last remaining county is Lake of the Woods.
MDH reported on Wednesday the COVID-19-related death of an Itasca County resident in their 80s. That brings the number of COVID-19-related deaths in Itasca County to 12. The deceased residents have ranged between ages 50 and 100.
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In St. Louis County, one person was hospitalized with COVID-19 outside of an intensive care unit setting, according to the county's Wednesday update.
Among the 285 new cases the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported on Wednesday, none of them were in the northernmost Wisconsin counties.
Another 354 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Minnesota as well as the completion of another 8,859 diagnostic tests.
Statewide, 28,869 people have tested positive and 24,675 of them no longer need to be isolated.
The number of people in an intensive care unit dropped by six to 193. Another 234 Minnesotans are hospitalized with COVID-19 outside of an ICU setting.
The health department reported 19 more deaths in Minnesota and 16 of those people were residents of a long-term care facility. Only the Itasca County death was recorded in the Northland.
This story was updated at 7:13 p.m. June 10 with information about Cook County's first case and at 2:15 p.m. June 10 with additional information from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and St. Louis County. It was originally posted at 12:26 p.m. June 10.
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