Coronavirus cases continue to rise in Minnesota, with fatalities rising by six to 70 in the state.

Crunching the numbers has revealed some encouraging information.

Minnesota is scraping the bottom of at least one statistical category.

And health care professionals say that's a real good thing.

"We're dead last, we are last," said Dr. David Hilden on WCCO's Sunday morning Health Matters show.

The category is the coronavirus test-positive rate.

New figures released Sunday by the Minnesota Department of health, the state has 1,621 laboratory-confirmed cases from 37,421 tests.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, that 4 percent rate puts Minnesota 51st among all of the states and the District of Columbia.

"It's where you want to be last," said Hilden, who knows how that low number was achieved.

"There's really only one explanation for that," he said. "Early social distancing and early closure of our facilties.

In comparison to neighboring states, Iowa, Wisconsin, and South Dakota all have 8 percent cent test-postive rate.

Hilden said those rates may be higher, but it also shows those states are also doing a good job promoting social distancing.

"That's sort of an Easter message around coronavirus, there's great hope for us here in the upper midwest that we're going to get through this thing and we're going to be stronger at the end," Hilden said.

There have been 64 fatal coronavirus cases in Minnesota through Saturday.