Health

News coverage and resources related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Twins staff are installing fan-submitted cutouts to help this pandemic baseball season feel a little less lonely, if not a bit more bizarre.

The Labor Department said that applications fell to 963,000, the second straight drop, from 1.2 million the previous week. The decline suggests that layoffs are slowing, though last week's figure is still above the pre-pandemic record of just under 700,000. 

Theater and visual works focus on the pandemic, artists of color and Black Lives Matter, from a stream by the Illusion Theater to a St. Paul artist’s portfolio available on Facebook. And the student-led StoryArk Festival takes place Sunday.

The newest counts come as COVID-19 watchers try to figure out the disease’s current course in Minnesota. Officials also posted fresh data with updated recommendations on school reopenings.

Universities and colleges have different plans for returning to teaching this fall, and there are specific needs for many classroom settings. As faculty and instructors prepare to teach, they worry about their students and their families.

President Trump on Wednesday repeats the unsubstantiated claim that he would not support wide use of mail-in voting because it leads to fraud.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods says that "effective immediately, any individual walking in to any one of our lobbies ... wearing a mask will be asked to remove it."

One of the most important metrics for tracking the spread of COVID-19 in Minnesota is the “positivity rate” — or how prevalent positive cases of the disease are, when compared to the number of tests being done. Our data reporter takes a deep dive in explaining what’s behind the number.

COVID-19 is hitting Black female entrepreneurs in Minnesota just like everyone else, but many missed on the federal lifeline for small businesses because their operations and business relationships don’t sync with traditional banking.