May 5, 2020

We’re getting our spring back - for at least a while. Wednesday’s forecast doesn’t look as bad as today’s, with the sunshine back and highs in the 50s and 60s across Minnesota. The relatively warm weather will last until Friday when highs hover in the upper 40s in the Twin Cities, and lows in the mid-30s.

COVID-19 in Minnesota today: Elective surgeries, dental procedures now allowed. Gov. Tim Walz announced a new order that will allow doctors, hospitals and dental clinics to return to that work. Health officials today reported 7,851 total confirmed cases, up 617 from the prior day; and 455 deaths, up 27, with the counts of people currently hospitalized (434) and in intensive care (182) hitting new highs.

What about PPE shortages? The governor had put a hold on elective surgeries and nonemergency dental procedures to preserve PPEs for health care workers who are on the front lines of the state’s COVID-19 response. With elective surgeries now allowed, he says individual health care providers will have to watch their supplies of personal protective equipment very closely. Here are answers to some key questions behind PPE supplies in Minnesota, the U.S. and around the globe, and what the state has done about the shortage.

Minnesota now projects $2.4 billion budget deficit. In less than three months, Minnesota’s budget projection went from a $1.5 billion surplus to now a $2.426 billion deficit - largely due to COVID-19-related expenses. To help address the deficit, Gov. Walz, his chief of staff and two dozen agency commissioners already took 10 percent pay cuts to prune expenses, and the state also has almost $2 billion coming from the federal government, a fund restricted to direct coronavirus response activities.

New COVID-19 vaccine being tested in the U.S. The vaccine, developed in a partnership between a pharmaceutical giant and a German biotech company, began trials on Monday with 360 volunteer subjects in the U.S. There are multiple versions of the vaccine in the initial trials. The companies will advance the versions that appear safest and also produce the best immune response.

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COVID-19 brings red ink back to state budget

A new budget update projects Minnesota will have a $2.4 billion deficit through July 2021. That’s a huge swing from the surplus predicted back in February.

In Feb.: Minnesota projected budget surplus grows slightly to $1.5B
Minn.'s $200M COVID-19 fund: Where is it going?

Fact check: Trump administration document and its 3,000 deaths a day scenario

A forecast of 3,000 deaths a day appeared in an internal document first obtained by The New York Times. But the epidemiologist who authored the analysis tells NPR the work is incomplete.

Grim projections: White House rejects government report projecting rising coronavirus death toll

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White House coronavirus task force to wind down

Vice President Mike Pence said the task force has begun to talk about a transition plan with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Despite White House limits on hill hearings: Fauci to testify before Senate panel
To pay for pandemic: U.S. Treasury to borrow $3 trillion in 3 months

Production shutdowns shrink meat supplies at stores

U.S. meat supplies are dwindling due to coronavirus-related production shutdowns. As a result, some stores like Costco and restaurants like Wendy's are limiting sales. U.S. beef and pork processing capacity is down 40 percent from last year.

Including Minnesota: 11 attorneys general seek probe into meatpacking industry
Coronavirus ; Pandemic cuts 'deep scars' through meatpacking cities
April 29: Trump order keeping meat packing plants open worries unions

An uncertain fall means once college-bound students are weighing their options

The unpredictability of COVID-19 has many Minnesota high school seniors reconsidering plans to enroll in college this fall. Many schools are preparing for declining student enrollment and a financial fallout.

MPR News with Angela Davis: How to decide your post-high school plans during a pandemic
'You deserve to celebrate': A doctor's advice for teens and parents
Today’s grads: Dreams of a bright future in a dim jobs market
6 ways: College might look different in the fall

Photos: 'Front porch' project documents unity during pandemic

Since mid-April, photographer Scott Streble has been taking photos of families in front of their homes. "When you look at the photos collectively, it's kind of a we're-all-in-it-together sentiment,” he said. He’s done 125 so far.

Photos: Life in a ‘new normal’ of COVID-19

Mankato pet cremator sees grief ‘compounded’ amid COVID-19

Wendy June, 57, has run Mankato Pet Cremation since summer 2018. An essential worker, she says “Anything that we can do to lessen someone else's load at this time, especially over the loss of people and pets.”

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