Severe storms are rolling through central Minnesota including the Twin Cities

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We stand at an uncertain moment in the pandemic. Vaccinations are plugging along. Infections and deaths are plummeting from their stratospheric winter peaks. But at the same time, new, more contagious viral variants have come to our shores. Minnesota’s best-known epidemiologist 

 that he fears the variants will send case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths skyrocketing again.  

“What we're seeing is basically the lull before the storm,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist who served as a COVID-19 advisor to Joe Biden during the presidential transition. He predicted the darkest days of the pandemic are coming.

 the outlook is so dire. Wednesday, MPR News Host Kerri Miller got a second opinion on the pandemic from two medical professionals closely watching the disease.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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No one has a crystal ball about what comes next in the pandemic. Some epidemiologists, including University of Minnesota’s Michael Osterholm, are nervous about the possibility of another surge triggered by the COVID-19 variants. But not all experts agree that’s inevitable.

Are the pandemic’s darkest days ahead? We get a second opinion.

A nurse and a man sit at a desk in a medical setting.

Are the pandemic’s darkest days ahead? We get a second opinion.

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