| Photo by Lynsey Weatherspoon for NPR
July 13, 2020
How to help kids with their own pandemic stress | |
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Good morning. It's Monday and your first update for the week is in.
Sunny in the south, but storms are possible. Twin Cities start the week sunny with highs in the upper 80s and wet storms at night. Statewide, the north will be cloudy and the south starts sunny. North and western Minnesota get the storms first before they move to the rest. Highs from 80 to 90. More on Updraft | Forecast
Kids are feeling pandemic stress, too. But there are some ways to help them. NPR put together a list, with help from child psychiatrists. Click here for the whole thing, but here are some highlights for now: Model calm: Kids, even teens, pick up on their parent's stress level. Parents, however, can be reassuring by showing their calm. Focus on what's working: Change the focus from worrisome behavior to reinforcing what's going well. Support kids' friendships: They're important for psychological development, so it's critical that parents find safe ways for kids to be with friends in ways such as video chatting or physically distanced activities.Encourage hobbies: How kids spend their time is something they can control at a time when so many things are uncontrollable. In Minnesota, the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests has increased. And yesterday, the death toll passed 1,500 while the number of hospitalizations increased for a second day in a row. Cases have been increasing across the state, especially in the Twin Cities suburbs, for several weeks.
Here are the latest coronavirus statistics: 42,281 cases confirmed (715 new) via 755,052 tests1,502 deaths (3 new)4,399 cases requiring hospitalization251 people remain hospitalized; 123 in intensive care36,582 patients no longer needing isolationMinnesotans with disabilities again have access to their day service programs. Many of them have been closed for months before state officials allowed them to open today , with a COVID-19 preparedness plan. “Nothing is more important to us than the health of all Minnesotans – including emotional and social health,” Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said in a news release. “My team and I have remained focused on turning the dial, as much as is prudent given the health risks, to get these providers back in service of the people they support."
If the coronavirus is airborne, like many scientists suggest, there are some ways to protect yourself. They include facing away from people when talking, proper mask-wearing and making the indoors more like the outdoors. Some takeaways: the outdoors are safer, and distance always helps.
After an acrimonious end to a first special session, the Minnesota Legislature returns Monday for another try. The agenda for the open-ended session is expected to be limited and familiar:
A public infrastructure borrowing bill, often called the bonding bill.A set of police accountability measures that gained steam after George Floyd’s killing Some budget and tax measures that didn’t get settled during the Legislature’s regular session or the June special session.A review of steps taken to control the coronavirus, and a debate over how schools conduct classes in the fall.More on the special session from MPR News reporter Brian Bakst.
— Cody Nelson, MPR News | @codyleenelson |
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