Minnesota reports increase in alcohol deaths April 15, 2021 12:56 PM Jourdan Vian Minnesota Department of Health SAINT PAUL, Minn. (WKBT) — Preliminary data released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Health shows that deaths from alcohol use increased in 2020 to nearly 1,000 Minnesotans. The preliminary data suggest that factors related to the pandemic may have boosted a decades-long trend of increasing numbers of alcohol-attributable deaths in Minnesota, according to the health department. The number of fully alcohol-attributable deaths increased by one-third between 2000 and 2010, and more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. Fully alcohol-attributable deaths are defined as those that would not have happened if alcohol had not been consumed. This includes both chronic causes, such as alcohol-related liver disease, and acute causes, such as alcohol poisoning. In 2020, 992 Minnesotans died from fully alcohol-attributable causes.