One more person living in Olmsted County has died due to COVID-19 as the county saw a spike in new cases over the last week.
One person in their 90s who lived in an assisted living facility reportedly died of the illness, health officials reported Thursday. The death is the 25th Olmsted County resident to have died from the illness.
That jump in new cases may not be from people currently living in the county, according to health officials.
The rolling seven day average case count in Olmsted County has climbed to nearly 16 new cases per day -- up from about 11 per day a week ago.
County health officials said no new outbreak has been identified and the spike is like due to a couple of factors, including students returning to campus.
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Students who have a listed permanent address from the area, but are living elsewhere, test positive for the virus, that positive test would count as a new positive in Olmsted County, said Kari Etrheim, Olmsted County Public Health communications coordinator.
“Some of that increase is due to higher education being included in our count,” Etrheim said. “That skews our numbers.”
The new case average over the last week as of Thursday was 15.9 cases per day. A week ago the rate was 11.4 new cases per day.
An outbreak at the Federal Medical Center also contributed to the spike in Olmsted County-listed cases, Etrheim added.
Currently there are 124 active cases in Olmsted County. At FMC, seven cases are listed as active after a peak of 14 active cases there early in the week.
New testing venue
Hy-Vee announced free COVID-19 tests in Rochester. The tests are given at Hy-Vee pharmacy at 4221 West Circle Drive using a drive-thru process. People do not have to have coronavirus symptoms to be tested but must register online for an appointment at: https://www.doineedacovid19test.com /
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