State health department officials say while Minnesota's COVID-19 numbers are heading in the right direction, now is no time to let up on precautions.
Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann says they've identified 40 local cases of the U-K variant, which may be spread more easily. And, Ehresmann says the winter storms around the country in the past few days are having an effect on vaccine shipments nationwide.
"This may impact our timliness metrics for next week as providers are scrambling to reschedule and plan for this change on when their vaccine arrives," said Ehresmann.
The department says 927,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in Minnesota so far. 240,000 people have received both doses.
Overall, the state's COVID numbers continue to improve, according to Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.
"The good news is the seven-day test positivity rate is remaining below our caution level, which is 5% of tests coming back positive. The seven-day rolling average is now at 3.8%," said Malcolm.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported 456 new COVID-19 cases and 2 additional deaths Tuesday.
