COVID-19
Biden vaccine mandate will apply to 4,800 Minnesota businesses
Roughly 4,800 businesses employing 1.4 million Minnesotans will be subject to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate announced by President Joe Biden Thursday, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The mandate requires all people working for businesses with more than 100 employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. The 1.4 million Minnesotans […]
COVID-19 vaccines or weekly tests to be mandated for millions of U.S. workers
WASHINGTON — More than 80 million employees of private businesses in the U.S. will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing as part of the Biden administration’s latest strategy for combating the still-surging coronavirus pandemic. The upcoming vaccine rule for companies with at least 100 employees is one plank of an […]
St. Paul to require staffers, vendors to get vaccinated or get tested weekly
The St. Paul Board of Education passed a resolution Friday requiring all staff members, contractors, vendors and visitors to be fully vaccinated or receive weekly COVID-19 testing, beginning Oct. 15.
Minnesota reports 3,882 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend
Minnesota reported 3,882 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths over the weekend, according to data released Tuesday by the Minnesota Department of Health. The state’s test positivity rate has remained above 5% for most of the month as the Delta variant causes a surge in cases in Minnesota and across the country. Minnesota’s fourth wave […]
Minnesota health officials urge COVID-19 precautions with State Fair, school year ahead
Minnesota health officials on Tuesday urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they haven’t already and to heed recommendations like wearing masks regardless of vaccination status, as the state’s fourth wave of COVID-19 continues. Eighty-four of Minnesota’s 87 counties are experiencing “substantial” or “high” levels of community transmission, according to the federal Centers for […]
Nearly 80,000 people signed up for Minnesota’s $100 COVID-19 vaccine incentive
More than 79,000 Minnesotans signed up for a $100 reward through Minnesota’s monthlong COVID-19 vaccine incentive program, Gov. Tim Walz’s office announced Monday. The state paid for the program, which ended Monday, with federal COVID-19 relief funds. It seems to have been most popular among Minnesotans in age groups and geographic areas with lower-than-average vaccination […]
Minnesota announces more COVID-19 testing options for schools
Schools will have more COVID-19 testing options when they start the 2020-21 school year, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Tuesday. Four testing options — including rapid tests — will be available to schools for free, and students can still get tested at the state-run community testing sites and other locations, according to MDH. The state […]
0.24% of vaccinated Minnesotans have tested positive for COVID-19
More than 7,100 fully vaccinated Minnesotans have tested positive for COVID-19 — about 0.24% of the state’s fully vaccinated population, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Monday. A very small proportion of those breakthrough cases have resulted in hospitalizations or deaths. Just over 580 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 — about 0.02% — and 60 […]
Worrying trend: More kids hospitalized with COVID
Hospitalizations of children are on the rise amid the state’s fourth wave of the pandemic — 83 kids and teens under 19 have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past two months, 25 of them in the past two weeks, Minnesota health officials announced Friday. The current surge of infections driven by the Delta variant is […]
Minnesota reports 1,120 new COVID-19 cases
Minnesota reported 1,120 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend, according to an update from the Minnesota Department of Health Monday. Nearly 300 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday, 87 of them in intensive care units. That’s almost three times the number of hospitalizations in early July. Daily case totals and hospitalizations have been rising […]
Evictions tick up as state phases out moratorium
Weekly eviction filings have about tripled since Minnesota began rolling back its moratorium put in place nearly 18 months ago, although they remain just a fraction of pre-pandemic levels because landlords may not yet evict tenants for missing rent. Beginning on July 14, landlords could resume evicting tenants for material violations of lease agreements — […]
Cost of $1,500 bonuses to assisted living, nursing home workers totals $96 million, estimate says
It would cost $96 million to provide $1,500 bonuses to 79,000 full-time employees in assisted living and nursing home facilities who toiled during the height of the pandemic, according to one estimate Minnesota lawmakers heard on Tuesday. A nine-person working group heard the estimate as they decide how divvy up the $250 million the Legislature […]