Feb. 23, 2021
Tonight will be mostly cloudy with rain and snow likely north and central, and a chance of snow south. Lows will be 10 in the north to 25 in the south. Tomorrow, look for partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid 20s to upper 30s. Find the latest from Updraft. Gov. Tim Walz gave one of his strongest signals yet that Minnesota is rounding the curve on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking in north Minneapolis at a vaccination campaign event, Walz said he and health officials are weighing a return for spectators at sports events like Twins games. And there's some good evidence for fan optimism, as the state reported a second day of only one addition to the state's death toll.
The deaths reported so far this week mark a rare break in the grim toll of COVID-19, with two days in a row of a single reported death. The state hasn't reported deaths that low since the first weeks of the pandemic back in March. New cases also barely topped 500, making for one of the lowest two-day totals since the week after Labor Day.
Vaccinations, however, continued to reflect the apparent break in supplies in the wake of last week's widespread winter storms. Administered doses fell to just 7,400 in the latest tally — only about a quarter of the daily average over the last week. Those are expected to tick up. Health officials said Monday that they expect delayed doses are already arriving in the state.
The Walz administration said it wants to create more equity in vaccine distribution by working with more than 30 community-based organizations to improve access in underserved racial and ethnic communities. However, the state hasn't released data on race and ethnicity vaccination rates.
Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says we should see some of the data that’s been collected so far next week, but it’s not clear how reflective that data will be.
You can get more of the latest news, in just a few minutes, via the Minnesota Today podcast. — Tim Nelson | MPR News | 
