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 COVID-19 ravages U.S., shootings, killings are also up
Homicides in Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and other cities have topped 2019 numbers as violence surged while much of the U.S. struggled during the coronavirus pandemic.
Answering questions about vaccine purgatory
The vaccinations are here, but it will take months for them to be fully distributed. Here’s what you need to know about living in the in-between.
In the ICU and at George Floyd Square, one nurse fights two pandemics
Nurse Jeanette Rupert is hard to keep up with. When she's not treating COVID-19 patients in the ICU, she's dispensing medical care at George Floyd Square, just blocks from where she was born and raised. In the turbulence of 2020, Rupert says she's deepened her appreciation and commitment to her friends, family and community.
Why the world is seeing some of its most extreme pandemic lockdowns
Even as the European Union began vaccine rollouts on Sunday, nations around the globe are instituting severe lockdowns and travel restrictions. Fear of the U.K. variant is a key reason.
Dec. 28 update on COVID-19 in MN: 13 deaths; new caseloads easing
The newest numbers come in the closing week of a year with more than 410,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,100 deaths. But as 2021 approaches, there are signs of hope.
Still disinfecting surfaces? It might not be worth it
Early in the pandemic, people were advised to disinfect everything they touched. But now that scientists understand more about how COVID-19 spreads, all that scrubbing down may have been overkill.
Fauci: U.S. taking 'intensive' look at variant of coronavirus
U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
Do-it-yourself contact tracing is a 'last resort' in communities besieged by COVID-19
The coronavirus is spreading so fast that cases are outpacing the contact-tracing capacities of some local health departments around the U.S. Some have asked people who test positive to do their own contact tracing.
Dec. 27 update on COVID in MN: Test positivity rate over past week drops below 5 percent
Sunday’s update from state health officials included two days’ worth of data — but the numbers weren’t much different than recent single-day reports. The average test positivity rate in Minnesota over the past week has dropped below 5 percent.