Minnesota

Three experts discuss Minnesota’s history of progressive leaders and policies and its deep racial inequality.

People in their 20s are driving the latest confirmed case counts. State health officials Monday said they expect to see those young adult infections ripple through the state in coming weeks. Young people, one official noted, ‘don’t live in a vacuum.’

Family members of dozens of people killed by police — in Minnesota and across the country — marched to the Capitol in St. Paul on Sunday to protest police violence and racial injustice.

Starting Monday, people who live in group homes and other congregate care facilities can once again attend day service programs. Many of those programs have been closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Minnesota health officials reported another 715 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state on Sunday, as the state’s death toll passed 1,500 since the pandemic started. The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests has increased in the past couple days as the pace of new cases has accelerated.

The federal government has denied a request from the state of Minnesota for a disaster declaration and accompanying financial support, to help clean up and repair fire damage from unrest following the police killing of George Floyd.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnesota jumped by more than 800 on Saturday — the biggest single-day increase in seven weeks.

Homelessness is driving the growth of tent camps in Minneapolis parks — and COVID-19 is making the situation worse, Hennepin County’s senior administrator of housing stability tells MPR News. The Minneapolis park board says it’ll consider a new resolution next week to reduce the size of the Powderhorn Park encampments — the largest encampments in the city.

The newest numbers reveal a rising trend of new COVID-19 cases in several suburban counties around the Twin Cities. Officials say there is no single “hot spot” explanation.

There’s been a bike boom around the world — including in Minnesota — as people look for ways to get around town, to replace the gym, or just to get out of the house amid the pandemic. And that has contributed to a shortage of bicycles and parts.