It’s Saturday, and welcome to the weekend -- even though we realize these weekend days may feel like weekdays, given the number of you working from home. Spring makes a comeback. Chilly start but temps recover this afternoon in the Twin Cities. Sunny with a high around 48. Light winds. Most areas of the state will see highs in the 40s, with some 30s in the northwest. More on Updraft. | Forecast Stay-at-home order may stretch past April 10. Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged the social isolation and economic hit many Minnesotans are taking in the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and painful. But he urged the state to hang tough to continue slowing the disease’s spread, warning “this thing will come roaring back.”
The latest coronavirus numbers as of Friday: 789 positive cases 22 deaths 86 people in the hospital; 40 in intensive care units 410 patients recovered -
56 of 87 Minnesota counties have a confirmed COVID-19 case 32 percent of cases caused by community transmission
3M CEO fires back on Trump tweet. Maplewood-based 3M defended itself against an allegation by President Trump who questioned the multinational company’s commitment to providing Americans with critically needed N95 respirator masks. In an interview with MPR’s Tom Crann Friday, 3M CEO Mike Roman said his company is getting as many masks as possible to Americans. ‘There’s still light out there and there’s hope.’ All across the state this week — in small towns and at large Twin Cities schools, for a few minutes or a few hours at a time — schools turned on stadium lights to cut through the dark of night to show solidarity, writes Andrew Krueger. The number of participating schools topped 100 as of Friday.
Not sure what day it is, stressed or overwhelmed? Take a few minutes with Evan Frost’s latest Zencast. This episode is a guided mindfulness exercise led by Dr. Mary Freitag against the scenes and sounds of birds from Wolsfeld Woods Science and Natural Area. Our daily dose of sweetness to leave you with . This one comes from Nancy Yang: Pioneer Press reporter Mary Divine marked her 24th wedding anniversary earlier this week. Thanks to a sweet neighbor, she and husband Gregory Myers got their very own personal concert. Listen here.
All of us at MPR News hope this finds you healthy and staying safe.
— Chris Graves
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