Health

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

An air quality alert remains in effect until Tuesday for most of Minnesota as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to make its way through the state and the surrounding region this week. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with an allergist at Midwest Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialists about what people can do to minimize inhaling harmful particles. 

September was expected to be the month of mass returns to the office. Now the surging extra-contagious coronavirus variant has employers wondering what to do.

Minnesota’s COVID-19 picture looked extremely bright on July 1. Now, with the month ending Saturday, things are a little cloudy. Cases and hospitalizations continue to rise at a steady pace heading into August.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention information dated Thursday gives new details on this variant of the coronavirus and says the agency should "acknowledge that the war has changed." It was first reported by The Washington Post.

The CDC issued revised masking guidelines after a recent study based on a new cluster of COVID-19 cases among fully vaccinated people shows that the delta variant is more contagious than previously thought. MPR News host Kerri Miller will get us the latest on the delta-driven surge in new infections and help sort through what we know and what we don’t.

After more than a year of pandemic learning, Minnesota schools are using summer sessions to give students the chance to do the sort of in-person learning some have missed since March 2020. But even with expanded offerings, many summer sessions haven't been able to meet a rise in demand from students and families. 

Minnesota will offer $100 incentives to people who get their first vaccination dose between Friday and Aug. 15, as Gov. Tim Walz quickly embraces the effort outlined by President Joe Biden.

Cyclist Phil Gaimon was competing in a race that could have won him a spot in the Tokyo Olympics. Instead, a crash landed him in two hospitals where his out-of-network surgeries garnered huge bills.

The brand-name version of the once-daily pill that is 99 percent effective at preventing HIV used to cost upwards of $1,800 a month. Federal guidance now makes getting the drug with insurance cheaper.