Carlton County Covid-19 case numbers increased by 53 cases over the past week, and there were no new deaths.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 3, Carlton County had seen a cumulative total of 2,909 Covid-19 cases with 43 deaths, according to the most recent numbers from the Minnesota Department of Health. Also Wednesday, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reported a total of 196 positive tests so far — the same as last week — with 92 of those on the reservation, also the same as the week before.

The state’s Jan. 28 report by zip code showed most Carlton County zip codes with few new cases. Sawyer reported zero new cases, while Holyoke, Kettle River, Cromwell, Carlton and Wrenshall all increased by only one case. Cloquet reported 1317 cumulative cases, up 29 cases from the week before. Esko reported 3675 cases, also an increase of seven. Moose Lake was at 412 cases, up by three. Barnum increased by four, to 203 in the Jan. 28 report.

In terms of the rate of positive cases, Carlton County now has a cumulative rate of 4.9 percent: that’s the average rate of positive cases per 10,000 people since testing began last spring. The percent of positive cases from Jan. 10-16 (the most recent dates available) jumped to 2.7 percent, up from 0.6 percent the week before.

The state’s Covid measurement for schools dropped to 30.67 per 10,000 people from Jan. 3-16, down from 39.11 cases in the previous report.

There are three Carlton County facilities on the state’s list of senior living facilities that had or have Covid-19 exposure in the last 28 days, including Augustana Mercy Health Care Center, Diamond Willow-Cloquet and New Perspective-Cloquet.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 3, a total of 4,747 people in Carlton County have received at least one vaccine dose for Covid-19, an increase of 1,695 since the previous week.