Covid cases trending up, but less severe

Covid-19 case counts are trending up in the state and region after a month of respite. Hospitalizations are also on the rise, but the cases seen are less severe, said Rick Breuer, CEO of Cloquet’s Community Memorial Hospital. More people are being treated at clinics or at home, Breuer said.

It’s a milder wave of Covid that people have been looking for. “It can be heresy to talk about Covid like the flu,” Breuer said. “It’s not to minimize it, but that’s what we have hoped for.”

The problem with any Covid case these days, he said, is that it still requires keeping away from others, meaning lost work and employers struggling to stay staffed.

“It’s still disruptive,” Breuer said.

Data from the Minnesota Department of Health show the state added 9,203 new Covid-19 cases between April 27 and May 3, averaging 1,314 new cases per day — up from last week, which saw an average of 1,287 cases per day. ICU hospitalizations in Minnesota are flat, but non-ICU hospitalizations continue to rise.