New cases of Covid-19 in Olmsted County are at their highest levels since this time last year, according to data from the CDC.

In the past week, the county has recorded 774 new cases — a nearly 20 percent uptick from the previous seven-day period. The last time the county saw numbers this high was just after Thanksgiving 2020.

“It’s a little bit of a Groundhog Day when we look at our data,” said Meaghan Sherden, lead epidemiologist for Olmsted County Public Health.

Sherden said several factors are likely behind the rising case numbers, including waning immunity from the Covid-19 vaccines and the transition to more indoor activities.

“Weather is starting to get a little bit chillier, people are moving inside … Just like what we see in cold and flu season, when it gets colder we tend to see those types of respiratory illnesses increase,” said Sherden.

Graphic via Olmsted County Public Health

Despite the rising case numbers, hospitalizations continue to remain relatively stable, a contrast to what is playing out elsewhere in the state. MPR News reports Minnesota has become one of the nation’s worst hotspots, with 1,382 people hospitalized statewide with the disease.

Meanwhile, here in Olmsted County, new hospitalizations have been around 10 per day, up from about six per day in late summer. The county has reported two Covid-19 deaths in each of the past two weeks.

Progress on the vaccine front

One group helping drive the uptick of cases in Olmsted County is children. Kids 18 and under now account for about 30 percent of new cases.

Of that number, around 60 percent are in PreK-5.

“We really want to drive home the point that with the 5- to 11- year-olds being eligible to get vaccinated — this is going to be one big step for us to get out of this wave we are currently in,” said Sherden.

One piece of encouraging news so far from the county has been the number of kids 5 to 11 who have gotten vaccinated in the past couple of weeks.

About a quarter of Olmsted County children in that age group have received their first dose of the Pfizer pediatric vaccine, Sherden said. Nationwide, the rate of vaccination among kids 5 to 11 in less than 10 percent.

“We are leading the way — just like we did in other age groups — in getting kids vaccinated,” she added.

Advice for the holidays

With Covid-19 cases up and the holidays approaching, health officials are encouraging people to be cautious when gathering indoors.

“We would recommend smaller numbers,” said Dr. Abinash Virk, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic, during a press conference on Wednesday. “We would recommend that hopefully everyone is vaccinated.”

Virk said the vaccines — something we did not have this time last year — continue to be the best of line of defense in the fight against Covid-19.

“Although there are some breakthrough infections, the rate of infections in the vaccinated individuals compared to those unvaccinated is substantially lower,” said Virk, putting the number at somewhere between 13 to 15 times.

Virk also encouraged those most at risk to Covid-19 to get their booster shots, which help protect against the waning of immunity of the virus.

There is also talk from Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm about expanding booster eligibility for all adults by the end of the week, regardless of guidance from the federal government.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.