May 21, 2020
Clouds, rain, thunderstorms this Memorial Day weekend. Good news? All-day rain or storms are unlikely and temps will stay warm until Saturday. Showers and storms will move across western Minnesota late Thursday and will become more scattered throughout the state on Friday. Highs tomorrow will be in the upper 60s to the mid-70s. COVID-19 in Minnesota today: 809 deaths, 18,200 confirmed cases. As of Thursday, 566 people remain hospitalized with COVID-19 while 229 are in intensive care. Catholic Church leaders say they will resume Masses next Tuesday, which goes against Gov. Tim Walz’s restrictions on large gatherings. Walz and DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said more restrictions on daily life will be loosened at later dates, including large indoor religious gatherings. Study: 36,000 lives in the U.S. could have been saved if social distancing had been in place a week earlier.. A new analysis finds social distancing has been very effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19 — and that thousands of lives could have been saved if the policies began earlier. The U.S. currently has more than 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and more than 93,000 people have died from the disease. Individual rooms, better staffing, improved inspection: What could we, and should we, do to better protect the vulnerable in nursing homes? The pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the nursing home system; facilities were short on PPE; tales abounded of staff wearing rain ponchos and goggles from hardware stores. Nursing home experts say priorities need to change, emphasizing quality of life over profits. Social distancing can be hard, especially if you're an extrovert. As part of a series checking in on how Minnesotans are getting by during the pandemic, we want to know: If you're an extrovert how have you been staying social? Leave a voicemail at 651-228-4820. We might play your message on the air! — Jiwon Choi and Sara Porter, MPR News | 