SO...CLOSE...to ZERO

So close to zero! Just not quite...Today the Belgrade zip code reported two new "cases" of COVID-19, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Brooten, zero! And Elrosa, zero!

I'm beginning to lose track in my head of which weeks Brooten has reported any new "cases" of COVID-19. That list is very short for the calendar year 2021.

The last weekly report released by the MDH that showed any new COVID "cases" for the Brooten zip code population (1,466 people) was in the March 4 report. I learned that in both of those cases, the individuals were asymptomatic beyond one individual thinking they had lost their sense of taste for a couple days.

It's been many, many weeks since the Brooten zip code area of 56316 has reported symptomatic cases of COVID-19. I looked back to the January 14, 2021 report, and at that time, the Brooten zip code had a listing of 114 cumulative cases over the previous 12-month period. Today that number is 123. 

Without taking the time to look specifically, I believe the third week of January saw four new COVID "cases" reported for 56316.

So over the period of January 14 to the February 25, the zip code area of Brooten (population 1,466) climbed from 114 to 121 cases...that's a six-week period with just seven new cases. Going from February 25 to March 25 (a four-week period), and the Brooten zip code has just two new cases. Adding it all up, that's nine new cases across a 10-week period dating back to January 14! AND at least two of the nine cases were asymptomatic.

In the same period, the zip code area of Belgrade has climbed from 221 cases to 254 cases from January 14 through March 25. 

The Elrosa zip code area has not had any COVID-19 cases since the middle of December. Wow!

To summarize, new COVID-19 case increases by zip code since January 14, 2021:
Brooten zip code: 9
Belgrade zip code: 33
Elrosa zip code: zero!

From the top: 10 weeks, population of approximately 4,285 with new case count growth of 42. ALL IN THE HEART OF WINTER, NO LESS! In the heart of winter and certainly what we can consider the belly of the beast for the traditional influenza season.

The state overall reported a higher-than-usual number of new COVID-19 "cases", and Hennepin County saw a large increase with 340 as their number for today. The state had a strong testing volume of 40,859 tests. 

*Update: I'll get back to sports in a new blog post.