April 7, 2020
Temp swing + wind gusts Wednesday. The balmy spring weather today is saying bye for a bit. Wednesday will be colder, with highs in the lower 50s and a chance of rain in the morning for the Twin Cities. Temps will continue falling Thursday, when the Twin Cities’ high will hover around the lower 40s. COVID-19 in Minnesota today: Minnesota now has 1K+ cases confirmed. No stay-home order extension, yet. As Minnesota’s stay-at-home order is set to end this Friday, Gov. Tim Walz said during his briefing Tuesday that he and state officials are considering a plan that “will be much more refined” while “we will continue to do a lot of the things we’re doing.” In this year’s Holy Week, churches adjust to the new, socially distanced normal. Many Christian churches across Minnesota entered their holiest week of the year Sunday, typically a busy time in the liturgical calendar that stretches from Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Easter Sunday and beyond. But this year, Holy Week comes as the novel virus hits the U.S. and the world hard. A church in Martin County, which has the state’s highest per capita of positive cases, has moved its services online amid the pandemic. In China, no new deaths reported today. China on Tuesday reported no deaths from COVID-19 for the first time since it began publishing data about the outbreak more than two months ago. The milestone comes a day before the government is set to lift outbound travel restrictions on people in Wuhan. So you can go outside during the stay-home order. But how far? Outdoor activities like hiking, biking — and fishing — are explicitly allowed under Minnesota’s two-week stay-at-home order . But deciding exactly how far to travel during the state’s social distancing efforts is left to individuals — and the calculus is complicated. A DNR spokesperson encourages Minnesotans to stay close to their home while being outside, but how close is close remains unclear.
Are you a health care worker who has had to cut back on hours? Are you a nurse, doctor or other health care worker who has been asked to take a pay cut or use PTO during the COVID-19 emergency? If so, we want to hear from you. We're interested in speaking with people who work in clinics and hospitals who are having to make tough financial choices as health care systems struggle to bear the financial burden of ending elective procedures and other non-critical appointments. Share your story by emailing reporter Catharine Richert at crichert@mpr.org — Jiwon Choi, MPR News | 