Six more deaths related to COVID-19 in the seven-county region were reported Thursday, Oct. 15, with four of those occurring in Mille Lacs County.

In the daily statistics provided by the Minnesota Department of Health, deaths in Mille Lacs County rose from three reported the previous day to seven Thursday. There was one death each recorded in Crow Wing and Morrison counties. The Crow Wing County resident who died was a person in their 80s, according to county officials, and the death occurred Monday. More specific information on the deaths in Mille Lacs and Morrison counties was unavailable Thursday night.

All area counties except Cass and Aitkin are on similarly steep trajectories with newly reported COVID-19 cases. Mille Lacs and Wadena counties saw the most recent spikes, while Crow Wing, Morrison and Todd have all been rising since mid- to late September.

Morrison County added the highest number of cases in the past week with 93 reported since Oct. 8. But with 92 cases added, Mille Lacs County led the way in terms of new cases per capita — 35.01 cases per 10,000 residents added in that time frame. Todd and Wadena counties also had more new cases per capita than Morrison this week, with 31.24 per 10,000 in Todd and 30.7 in Wadena compared to 27.86 in Morrison. Crow Wing County had the lowest per capita rate increase of all seven area counties with 76 cases, or 11.68 per 10,000.

COVID-19 data as of Oct. 13

• Aitkin — 133 (+22 since Friday, Oct. 9), with one death.

• Cass — 274 (+27), with three deaths.

• Crow Wing — 766 (+65), with 21 (+3) deaths.

• Mille Lacs — 297 (+79), with seven (+4) deaths.

• Morrison — 472 (+75), with four (+1) deaths.

• Todd — 626 (+47), with two deaths.

• Wadena — 147 (+36).

NOTE: These numbers are cumulative since March 21 and many are out of isolation. The number of those no longer needing isolation is not reported on a county-level basis by the state.