Walz hints at targeted restrictions to curb COVID-19 spread

Colder. Colder. Colder. Look for decreasing clouds, but not before some rain and maybe even freezing rain tonight. Lows will be near 20 northwest to near 30 southeast. Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with snow and possibly freezing rain. Look for snow accumulations across southern and eastern Minnesota up to 6 inches. Highs will be near 30.

Gov. Tim Walz is about to take new steps to stem the coronavirus, after alarming rises in COVID-19 cases over the weekend.

Walz said he has an announcement planned for tomorrow, and while he wouldn’t discuss details, he suggested his strategy would look different than the lockdown he imposed last spring.

Minnesota is adding more than a dozen free COVID-19 testing sites around the state over the next two weeks.

On Monday, the state opened a saliva testing site at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Similar testing is already available free of charge at sites in St. Paul, Mankato, Winona, Brooklyn Park, Moorhead, Duluth and St. Cloud.

Testing is free and available to anyone who wants to be tested whether they have symptoms or not. The state does not require identification or insurance for saliva testing, but does recommend that patients make an appointment.

In the meantime, COVID-19 cases remain high, as nearly 1 in 7 Minnesotans getting a test are confirmed to have a coronavirus infection.

Minnesota reported nearly 4,000 newly confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 on Monday. That’s down from Sunday’s record, but it still wasn’t good news. A drop in testing volume explained the relatively lower new caseload.

However, the positive test rate, a key measure of whether the disease is spreading, continued to climb. Active, confirmed cases have also nearly tripled in the last two weeks and have set a new record high every day for a week straight.