 | Evan Frost | MPR News
July 21, 2020
Legislature passes policing bill, ends special session | |
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Good morning. Today, changes to policing in Minnesota and a grim COVID-19 record for the state. First, the weather.
Cloudy with a chance of rain and thunderstorms. Twin Cities highs in the upper 70s with temps dropping to the upper 50s and clearer skies at night. Statewide highs from mid-60s to lower 70s in the north, near 80 in the south. More on Updraft | Forecast
A sweeping proposal to change the culture and oversight of Minnesota law enforcement is on its way to Gov. Tim Walz after lawmakers passed it early Tuesday before adjourning their special session. MPR News reporter Brian Bakst reports, "It governs how police are trained, how they’re held accountable for bad behavior and what happens when they use deadly force."
One day, 922 new COVID-19 cases. Yesterday’s data showed the largest single-day case count of the pandemic, so far. While state officials said the high number is due in part to a transition to a new reporting system, which will make daily totals choppy for a few days, case counts have ticked up for weeks.
Adding to the heartbreak, the first Minnesota child has died of COVID-19. It was a 9-month-old in Clay County, home to Moorhead, Minn. The infant is one of the nation’s youngest coronavirus deaths and the first person under age 20 in the state to die and test positive for COVID-19. Health officials said the child didn’t have an underlying health condition and hadn’t been hospitalized, but did have both upper and lower respiratory infections listed as causes of death.
Here are the latest coronavirus statistics:
- 47,107 cases confirmed (922 new) 867,410 via tests
- 1,545 deaths (4 new)
- 4,678 cases requiring hospitalization
- 247 people remain hospitalized; 115 in intensive care
- 40,742 patients no longer requiring isolation
Kids are considered at lower risk for COVID-19, but they still can contract the virus. Officials hope to understand more about how the virus can affect kids, and Minnesota leaders have asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the infant who died here . “In general, we have seen fewer cases in kids, we’ve seen fewer cases with hospitalizations and fewer cases with the need for intensive care,” said Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director. “But what we don’t know — and I think this is true for all ages — we don’t really know the underlying long-term impacts of a COVID infection on an individual.”
While the coronavirus might be milder for kids, it’s unclear how they spread the illness among themselves or to adults. With such uncertainty, whether to reopen schools remains tricky and risky. "Kids don't seem to be super spreaders," Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician, told NPR. But since most schools closed in March, we don’t have good answers. "Schools will now be the experiment," Carroll said. "We're going to see a bunch of schools open with varying levels of control, and then we will see what happens."
Wondering where Congress is at regarding COVID-19 relief measures? They’re a ways from a solution, NPR reports. Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven’t had any negotiations and remain far apart on details. So, if you’re hoping for continued CARES Act money or help for your small business, it remains a waiting game.
Before we go, an update from Minneapolis’ Powderhorn Park encampment. The city kicked out all the people who had been living in the park after city leaders sanctioned it as a “refuge space” last month, throwing away whatever couldn’t get moved out. Park police arrested some 20 residents and activists who wouldn’t leave. “Almost everybody who’s in government right now is not thinking through the unintended outcomes of what they do ,” said Claudia Bruber, who lives near the park. “Think this through before you just emotionally put something out there.”
— Cody Nelson, MPR News | @codyleenelson |
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