June 25, 2020
Nice now, thunderstorms likely overnight into Friday. Showers and thunderstorms are likely overnight and could last until Friday evening. Storms may get severe, especially in western Minnesota tonight. Damaging winds and hail are the biggest concern, but isolated tornadoes are also possible. Highs Friday would be in the upper 70s to the mid-80s. Many recent COVID-19 clusters stem from parties. Protests? Not so much. Like Minnesota, recent COVID-19 case spikes in Washington and Florida are driven by clusters from social events and gatherings while there are few or no cases tied to protests. "These younger people are having more mild symptoms, they are going to work sick, they are visiting with their parents and grandparents sick and they're continuing to go to social events where they expose more and more people," said Erika Lautenbach, director of the Washington’s Whatcom County Health Department. Listen: A memorial to lives lost to COVID-19. More than 120,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Public radio hosts, past and present, read short eulogies of just some of these people lost to the coronavirus pandemic in the last several months. Listen here or live on MPR News Presents at 9 p.m. tonight. COVID-19 in MN today: Bar-driven cluster causes 91 new cases in Blue Earth County. The state Health Department yesterday didn’t say exactly where, or which bars, drove the cluster, but this morning, officials in Blue Earth County acknowledged a surge of 91 cases since June 20 with nearly all those sickened in the 19- to 25-year-old age range. Blue Earth County sits in south-central Minnesota and includes Mankato. Minnesota is seeing a biking boom. Are you part of it? In Minnesota, demand for bikes is up as people look for exercise, transportation, and a way to get outdoors. Have you or your family started biking since the start of the pandemic? What pushed you to start and what has the experience been like? Share your story by emailing Emily Bright at ebright@mpr.org. — Jiwon Choi, MPR News | @ChoiGEE1 |