Good morning. It's Thursday and your news update is here. Sunny morning with more storms later on. Twin Cities highs in the upper 80s with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Statewide, also a chance of storms in the afternoon with highs from the upper 70s to upper 80s. More on Updraft | Forecast All four officers at the scene of George Floyd's death face charges. Derek Chauvin, whose knee was pressed to Floyd's neck, now faces the upgraded charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The other officers at the scene — Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng — face charges of aiding and abetting murder. All have been fired and are being held on $1 million bail.
Floyd's memorial service is today. It's a private, invite-only event at North Central University in Minneapolis. The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy, and other family members plan to speak. Other memorials will be held in the communities where Floyd was born and grew up, Houston and Raeford, N.C.
Demonstrators gathered outside WCCO's office in Minneapolis to protest media bias against victims of police violence. Unicorn Riot was on the scene. If you have thoughts on this protest and issues of media coverage of police violence, I'd love to hear them. The email is cnelson@mpr.org.
The Twin Cities had another night of calm. While the governor extended his 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew into Friday morning, the number of National Guard troops mobilized decreased. And Metro Transit resumed its bus and Northstar Commuter Rail services and is restarting the Blue and Green light rail lines this morning. Hundreds gathered at Floyd's memorial site to celebrate new charges.
The Health Department wants all involved with the Floyd demonstrations to get a COVID-19 test. Calling the protests a "recipe for spread," Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm urged people to get tested right away if they have symptoms . If they don’t, she said, they should wait 5 to 7 days after they participated in a protest or clean-up effort to get tested. And if their test result is negative, but they suspect they were exposed, Malcolm encouraged people to get re-tested around 12 days after they think they were exposed. The state has a goal of 20,000 daily tests in the coming weeks.
Recent data show smaller waves of the coronavirus making their way through the population, though there's nothing definitive. Malcolm said there are some signs the state’s cases are stabilizing, such as a downward trend in overall hospitalizations. She also said the state should start seeing the impacts of reopening efforts in about a week.
Here are the latest coronavirus statistics:25,870 cases confirmed via 265,718 tests 1,086 deaths 3,203 cases requiring hospitalization -
537 people remain hospitalized; 254 in intensive care 21,169 patients no longer needing isolation
— Cody Nelson. MPR News | @codyleenelson | 
