Trending
BROWN COUNTY -- New COVID cases jumped past 100 this week in Brown County with three additional COVID deaths.
Last week saw only an increase of 56 cases. This week's numbers are double that with 114 confirmed cases.
Brown County Public Health Director Karen Moritz said the county's case rate is lower than other parts of Minnesota, but is expected to rise in the next few weeks.
The surge in cases is a national occurrence. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 27.2% of COVID tests taken across the United States last week were positive. The previous week saw a positive test rate of 17.9%.
The CDC believes part of this surge is driven by the Omicron variant. They estimate Omicron could account for 95% of cases.
Moritz could not confirm Omicron has reached Brown County, because positive cases are not sequenced locally.
Current data suggests Omicron infections might be less severe than other variants, but the increase is placing stress on healthcare systems. In Minnesota, there are 22 open ICU beds statewide. Only three open beds are available in south-central Minnesota.
Vaccinations are still recommended as the best method to combat the spread. In Minnesota, fewer than 5% of vaccinated individuals have contracted the virus.
In Brown County, 65.1% of the 5 and older population has completed the vaccination series.
Brown County Public Health will no longer be posting COVID-19 situation updates on Facebook. Monday's update will be the last. County updates can be found on the Minnesota Department of Health's (MDH) website. MDH updates COVID data for each county Monday through Friday.
Moritz said the change is to avoid public confusion with multiple posts from different sources.