Olmsted County Covid numbers drop slightly as officials brace for a post-Thanksgiving uptick

After a month of increasingly sobering statistics related to Olmsted County’s Covid-19 situation, Wednesday’s weekly report showed slight improvements in new case numbers and the rate of positive tests. Still, though, health officials remain on edge, with fears looming of further spikes in cases related to Thanksgiving celebrations. 

For the week of December 2, Olmsted County Public Health reported 685 new Covid-19 cases — still the fourth-largest weekly total of the entire pandemic, but also the lowest weekly total since October. The last six weeks constitute each of the six highest weekly totals since the pandemic began, with a majority of the county’s total cases since March coming in that time-frame.

Seven-day rolling averages of new cases currently sit just above 100, down from the peak of roughly 125 in early November. The most positive news, though, is on how many Covid-19 tests came back negative: percent-positive rates are back below 10 percent, down from a peak of 14.6 percent and back into the yellow stage of the dial on Public Health’s dashboard.

Olmsted County also hit a major testing milestone in late November — over 100,000 tests have been administered to Olmsted County residents over the pandemic’s time span. Over the past week, Olmsted County’s testing sites have administered 5,877 tests.

While statistics related to new cases offer some slight encouragement, trailing indicators for the virus have not shown similar signs of improvement. Daily hospitalization numbers, which have been on a continuous rise since mid-October, have shot past 40 — quadrupling pre-October records, without showing any signs of leveling off or decreasing. 

The Public Health report backs up the conclusions from Mayo Clinic’s situation update from Tuesday, revealing an increase in elective procedures and a slight drop in Covid-related staff absences; all the while the health system is preparing for another potential spike in the coming weeks.

Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.

Cover graphic via Olmsted County Public Health