Seven inmates at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Moose Lake have now tested positive for COVID-19, with four of them being reported Friday morning to have recovered. Another 13 inmates are presumed to be positive, according to a Forum News Service report.
The three new cases are in addition to a staff member who tested positive, which a Department of Corrections official confirmed Thursday. Moose Lake remained the only prison in the state to have confirmed cases among inmates as of Friday morning. A second Moose Lake staff member is a presumed positive, according to FNS.
A staff member at the Red Wing Juvenile Correctional Facility, in southwestern Minnesota, tested positive last weekend and a second is presumed to have the disease but there were no known cases in the resident population, which has been quarantined.
Carlton County officials are reporting two new cases, bringing the total to five as of Friday morning. It is unclear if the five cases reported by the county are all cases reported by the Department of Corrections for the Moose Lake prison. Minnesota's statewide numbers are updated daily at 11 a.m. with data current as of 4 p.m. the previous day. The Department of Corrections updates its numbers more frequently.
Statewide confirmed positive COVID-19 tests rose by 47, bringing the total to 789 with four more deaths reported Friday totaling 22 deaths statewide.
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According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 410 patients who tested positive no longer need to be isolated.
As of Friday, 86 patients are currently hospitalized with 40 of them in an intensive care unit (ICU).
No new cases were reported Friday in St. Louis, Lake, Cook, Itasca or Koochiching counties.
Forum News Service's Dana Ferguson contributed to this report.
This story was updated at 7:55 p.m. (March 3) with additional information from Forum News Service reports. It was originally posted at 11:55 a.m. (March 3).
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