COVID-19: Coverage of the pandemic from MPR News

The latest news, resources, guides and tips to help you stay up to date on the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 in MN: School cases accelerating as latest wave grinds higher
“We’ve been a little encouraged that the rate of (case) increase seems to be slowing down, but we’re still seeing increases,” Minnesota’s health commissioner said Wednesday. Officials say new cases tied to schools have jumped compared to last week.
Most states have cut back public health powers amid pandemic
A review of hundreds of pieces of legislation across the United States shows that Republican legislators in more than half of the states are taking away the powers state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious diseases.
How is back to school going in Minnesota?
The third year of pandemic schooling is now well underway in districts across the state. This year is already shaping up to be markedly different than last year. MPR News education reporter Elizabeth Shockman checked in with families and school leaders to learn more about the start of classes.
Judge rejects bid for required masking in Minn. schools
The longshot legal challenge sought to force Gov. Tim Walz to declare a new peacetime emergency around COVID-19 for the purpose of requiring face coverings in school buildings.
'We are in a crisis': Fargo hospital slammed with COVID cases
Sanford Health in Fargo-Moorhead is scaling back surgeries in response to demand for COVID-19 care. Patients with and without the virus are straining the system’s hospital beds.
COVID-19 cases climbing, wiping out months of progress
COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed back to where they were over the winter, wiping out months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for sweeping new vaccination requirements.
Census: Relief payments staved off hardship in COVID crash
The share of Americans living in poverty rose slightly as the COVID-19 pandemic shook the economy last year, but massive relief payments pumped out by Congress eased hardship for many, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
FDA experts among group opposing U.S. booster shot plan
The average person doesn’t need a COVID-19 booster yet, an international group of scientists — including two top U.S. regulators — wrote Monday in a scientific journal.