MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Health said Wednesday five more people have died of coronavirus complications, bringing the state’s death toll to 17.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to climb as expected with 70 additional cases announced Wednesday for a total of 689.

The median age for those who have died is 84, health officials said. Thirty percent of coronavirus cases in Minnesota are the result of community spread.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

Also on Wednesday Gov. Tim Walz has announced that he’ll deliver his postponed State of the State address on Sunday evening at 7 p.m., and he says he’s looking forward to speaking directly to Minnesotans during this uncertain time.

The governor said Wednesday that he’ll deliver the speech alone with a remote camera from the Governor’s Residence, where he was in his 12th day of self-quarantining since a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19.

“It is appropriate at this time with the character of Minnesota shining so brightly that we address where we’re at, and more importantly, where we’re going,” Walz said in his daily briefing for reporters.

Minnesotans can view the address on YouTube Live and participating media outlets.

Walz was originally going to deliver his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature on March 23, but had to cancel it amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Walz says the 2020 Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener has been postponed until next year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

This year’s 73rd annual event was set to be held next month in Otter Tail County. But now the Governor’s Fishing Opener is rescheduled for May 6-9, 2021. It still will be held in Otter Tail County, in west-central Minnesota.

Despite this year’s Governor’s Fishing Opener being postponed, the 2020 fishing season will still open on May 9.

The Governor’s Fishing Opener has been a Minnesota tradition since 1948.

The state also closed adult day care centers across Minnesota to prevent the coronavirus from spreading among thousands of seniors and disabled people they serve.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services in a letter to 220 licensed providers this week said the people who staff the centers are not considered critical care workers and need to stay at home.

The letter instructs the centers to close immediately.

In another development, COVID-19 has reached Minnesota’s prison system, highlighting the health threat to vulnerable inmates and the efforts to reduce the risks via early releases of nonviolent offenders.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections this week reported the first confirmed cases in state prisons — a staff member in the Red Wing juvenile prison, and three inmates and a staffer at the Moose Lake adult prison.

“We all know that our antiquated and overcrowded prison system is just a hotbed for some of this to happen,” Gov. Tim Walz said on a conference call with reporters.

No cases have been reported so far in the state’s county jails, where officials in many counties have moved aggressively to reduce their inmate populations. Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson said his jail has been steadily releasing nonviolent offenders. The population was 850 three weeks ago and is now under 500, he said.

“Our goal is to make sure our inmates don’t get sick, and if they do get sick, we treat them to the best of our ability,” Hutchinson said in an interview.

Across the country, defense attorneys, inmate advocates and families of prisoners have been calling for early releases and expressed frustration at the difficulties of checking in with clients and loved ones on the inside. The focus of the push for early release in Minnesota has been on people with minor nonviolent offenses, such as probation violations and drug crimes, and people who are already close to the end of their sentences — not people charged with or serving time for violent or other serious crimes.

“The prosecutors have not, and will not, seek the release of an inmate caught with a gun, or (who) is charged with a violent felony, or caused significant bodily harm or has a history of violence,” said Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Minnesota’s prisons and jails have commonly suspended most in-person visits. Some are allowing video visits or increased phone privileges. Programming in the prison system has continued with social distancing. Staff and inmates still entering the facilities face stronger screening.

State Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said his agency is looking at several options including expanding work release.

Minnesota’s 11 state prisons have 8,900 inmates. Schnell said there hasn’t been a big drop in the past month, but officials have been reducing the population over the past year and a half.

“We take the health of the people in our prisons very seriously,” Schnell said. “I want to make sure we are doing this as good as we can, given there is no script for this.”

Robert Small, executive director of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, said local prosecutors are working closely with public defenders, sheriffs and courts to determine who can safely be released and to get the necessary orders, he said.

“They were ahead of this,” Small said in an interview. For example, Winona County cut its jail population by half; Wadena’s is down 37%. Le Sueur County developed a detailed list of what offenses would warrant booking an offender, he said.

Dr. Tyler Winkelman, who treats inmates in the Hennepin County Jail, said the large populations in close quarters make it difficult to practice social distancing . He said the big reduction in the county jail’s population “makes an enormous difference in our ability to decrease the chance of a large-scale outbreak.”