Minnesota confirmed 23 more flu-related deaths Thursday, raising the season total to 27 for what Health Commissioner Edward Ehlinger called the state's most severe flu outbreak in several years.
More than 1,100 people have been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms statewide this season, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a weekly update, and the commissioner said it's putting stress on the health care system. Several hospitals have restricted visitors in an attempt to protect patients and staff.
Twenty-three of the state's deaths and 62 percent of the hospitalizations have been in people 65 and older, the department said.
