Copy shortlink:
Fewer Minnesotans sought COVID-19 testing as they finished shopping and meal preparations during the week before Christmas.
That's a 28% decrease from the week that preceded Thanksgiving, which was a time when Minnesota was adding new cases at record rates.
"We were super busy before Thanksgiving and then everything just kind of fell off a cliff," said Heather Dawson, vice president of laboratory services at Minneapolis-based Allina Health.
"Our positivity rate dropped at the same time, so it is hard to tell if it is fewer people getting tested or fewer people feeling ill," she said.
Still, 1.2 million test results were reported to the Minnesota Department of Health so far in December, which detected nearly 70,000 new cases.