ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Department of Health says they are following CDC guidelines for calculating and reporting the number of people who have died from COVID-19.

The state saw its highest single-day jump in deaths on Thursday of 11, bringing the total up to 50 and Commissioner Jan Malcolm says some misinformation has been making its way around social media.

Deaths will be counted as confirmed COVID-19 deaths only when the information that a medical certifier provides in a written cause of death statement explicitly mentions COVID-19, not counting other variations like corona infection, due to pandemic, or non-standard abbreviations like COV.

Malcolm says the process is similar to the procedure followed during other outbreaks or natural disasters. She also says it is possible people died from the illness before testing was made available.

The MDH is continuing to investigate current and previous death records to ensure the numbers are as accurate as possible.

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