A rise in COVID cases nationally is only making a slight impact in Minnesota.
The latest data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows a small uptick in COVID related hospitalizations, but that's only up a little from almost no hospitalizations just a month ago.
Epidemiologist Stephanie Meyer says a new variant called FLiRT could be part of the problem.
"Because these mutations let the virus evade your pre-existing immunity, these particular FLiRT variants can result in an increase in cases," explains Meyer.
Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, says that these changes could increase the virus' ability to infect cells and evade the immune system, even in people who have previously been infected or vaccinated.
"This variant can evade the immune response more effectively than prior versions of the virus. If you've been infected, or you've been vaccinated, and you've got some antibodies in your system, those antibodies may not recognize the protein on the surface of the virus as well," says Dr. Binnicker.
Meyer adds the other main factor could be that its been awhile since many people have been vaccinated.
"If you have been vaccinated in the winter months, and now it's rolling around to summer, your immunity might be wearing off," she tells WCCO.
As of May 11, fewer than one-quarter of U.S. adults had received the latest COVID-19 shot. About 42% of people 75 and older — those most vulnerable to severe disease and death from COVID-19 — got the latest shots.
Meyer or now just washing your hands and staying home when your sick should keep COVID at bay for most Minnesotans.
COVID-19 cases are either growing or likely growing in 39 states. About 300 COVID-19-associated deaths were occurring weekly in May, according to the most recent provisional CDC data. That’s the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly 26,000 people died from COVID-19 in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 9, 2021 — the highest weekly toll in the pandemic.