March 19, 2020

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your Thursday.

The coronavirus' economic impact will be felt widely, but unevenly. Few sectors will escape economic pain from the coronavirus outbreak. Some economists, however, are hopeful things can return to normal by the end of the year.

A Duluth distillery is turning spirits into sanitizer. Tucked away in the back of the Vikre Distillery building, past the empty cocktail room and copper stills and fermenters, the company has set up its makeshift hand sanitizer production area.

In Little Falls, bus drivers are bringing meals, smiles to home-bound students. Schools across Minnesota shut their doors this week amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and districts are scrambling to provide meals to students who depend on them. Little Falls is one of several districts using bus drivers to deliver breakfast and lunch to school-age children.

Minnesota’s schools are closed for learning, but open for emergency personnel child care, planning.  Most states in the country have or are planning to close schools to slow the spread of COVID-19. Minnesota’s governor — a former teacher — is instructing districts to open their doors to the children of health care and emergency workers.

Minnesota health care workers are raising concerns about the response to the coronavirus. Those on the front lines say some health care facilities aren’t prepared to handle expected coronavirus patient surge and that hospital administrators have been slow to implement COVID-19 strategies.

Many state employees are being urged to work from home.  Thousands of workers are being ordered to work at home while others could get new assignments. Some consumer facing services are being scaled back.