| Good morning. We might have frost or freezing temperatures to start the day, but a warming trend is heading our way this weekend. For Thursday, sunny and warmer, though there may be some patchy fog and frost to start the morning. Highs in the 60s. Check out the Updraft for more details. As schools across Minnesota reopen, state and local officials are fighting a new foe in the pandemic: Disinformation that threatens testing strategies meant to protect students, parents and teachers — and keep schools open.
Getting control of the pandemic requires that people be unified in their trust of medical and public health advice, said state infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann.
“The challenge is unlike any other situation we’ve ever dealt with, in that this has become very divisive and very politicized,” she said. “I never dreamed that a public health crisis would be able to turn out this way. This was not something we envisioned.”
As kids head back to school, here are three myths about the coronavirus you should be wary of.
State inspectors conducting recent sweeps of bars and restaurants across southern Minnesota found dozens of establishments not complying with the state's orders to curb the spread of the disease.
Investigators popped into bars and eateries in Mankato, St. Peter, Waseca, Faribault and New Ulm, plus spots in Carver and Scott counties. Of 167 sites visited, 79 were out of compliance in some way; 31 were referred for followup inspections.
"We know most establishments are taking the safety measures seriously. We also know that a handful of bad actors can create a ripple effect and impact the entire industry," Dan Huff, an assistant Minnesota health commissioner, told reporters Wednesday.
Compliance, not punishment, remains the goal as the state works to stem the spread of recent outbreaks, Huff and other officials said. But they made it clear that institutions shirking the rules are opening their communities to problems.
Here are Minnesota’s latest COVID-19 statistics:
1,869 deaths81,868 positive cases, 75,055 off isolation263 hospitalized, 137 in ICU1,621,174 tests, 1,204,193 people testedIn other news: Farming a dry patch of rural Wadena County takes patience, dedication — and water. It’s hard to see how anyone could coax anything green from this sandy patch of Minnesota soil. But Kathy Connell can.
Outside of the ring of pine trees that circles Connell's land, an entirely different type of agriculture has been reshaping the countryside in north-central Minnesota. Over the past few decades, thousands of acres of pine forests have been converted to potatoes and other row crops, which need lots of water and fertilizer.
One farmer's plans to irrigate his land to grow crops has triggered a legal challenge by organic farmers and clean water advocates.
-- Matt Mikus, MPR News @mikusmatt |
