77 COVID-19 cases statewide; 1,700 samples await testing amid shortage

A rain/snow storm after gloomy Wednesday. By Thursday morning, a storm that’s quite potent will bring rain, snow and wind gusts across Minnesota through Friday morning. While it will likely affect the whole state, the impact will be greater in southern Minnesota than in other parts. A couple of inches of snow -- up to 3-4 inches in southwestern Minnesota -- is expected.

COVID-19 in Minnesota today: 77 cases confirmed, 6 new cases through community transmission. Thirteen cases involve health care workers, three patients have been released and four remain in hospital, state health officials say. So far, more than 2,700 people have been tested, but the state is still seeing a shortage of testing.

U.S.-Canada border temporarily closed, President Trump orders. In a press conference today, Trump said that he had become a "wartime president" and that Americans now are in something like a state of war, too. Some traffic would continue to pass through, but the goal is to limit the non-urgent passage of people back and forth, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Amid COVID-19 outbreak, the story of a son who struggles to see his elderly father in an assisted living home. As many nursing homes and assisted living facilities across Minnesota close their doors to visitors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Charlie Johnson, whose father is an assisted living resident, figured out how to continue seeing his 88-year-old father. He now sits outside the window of his father’s room, saying hello to him over the phone every day.

— Jiwon Choi, MPR News