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.

As nursing homes open up, families, operators remember COVID's torment, focus on what's next
More than a year into the pandemic, families, administrators, staff and residents are cautiously moving into a post-vaccine life. They do so while holding onto the memories of one of the most devastating years in the history of long-term care. For all, it has been a year of pain and change.
Giving more by giving together
Host Angela Davis will talk about why more people donated money last year with two women involved with giving circles, a way for ordinary people to get involved in philanthropy. 
Minnesota to host FEMA vaccination site at state fairgrounds
Gov. Tim Walz and the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced plans for a mass vaccination site at the state fairgrounds in Falcon Heights next week that will have the capacity to vaccinate 100,000 Minnesotans against the coronavirus over eight weeks.
As schools reopen in Minnesota, COVID-19 cases climb
State officials say that more than 750 Minnesota schools have confirmed COVID-19 cases, and many are likely from a more contagious, more severe version of the virus that originated in the United Kingdom.
April 5 update on COVID-19 in MN: Vaccination pace stable; hospitalizations up
Minnesota’s most recent COVID-19 data shows the state’s vaccination rate continuing apace while caseloads and hospitalizations rise. Officials, though, cautioned not to read too much into the most recent data given delays in reporting over the Easter weekend.
Generation unemployed: Another class of graduates face pandemic-scarred future
Although the overall jobs market is starting to come back, youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, creating a lot of anxiety among the latest class of college and high school seniors.
Delta cancels about 100 flights, opens middle seats
Delta Air Lines canceled about 100 flights Sunday due to staffing shortages, and it opened up middle seats a month earlier than expected in order to carry more passengers.
In Easter message, Pope Francis urges broad access to vaccines and an end to conflicts
"Everyone requires assistance and has the right to have access to necessary care," Pope Francis said. "This is even more evident in these times where all of us are called to combat the pandemic, and vaccines are an essential tool in this fight."
April 3 update on COVID-19 in MN: Record number of vaccinations; case counts climbing
Minnesota reported a single-day record of 85,573 COVID-19 vaccinations in Saturday’s update. Officials, though, remain increasingly anxious as new cases and hospitalizations also climb.
‘The Year of the Plague’: The pandemic, through a storyteller’s eyes
Ojibwe storyteller Anne Dunn has been totally alone in a little house on the Leech Lake Reservation for more than a year, wondering — as storytellers do — how to weave the pandemic into a coherent narrative.