COVID in Minnesota TODAY

Health care providers plea for help with crush of patients, urge parents to keep sick kids home, and Walz says there won’t be a special session before new legislature shows up. This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Tim Nelson. Music by Gary Meister.

Strike over, nurses and hospitals say they're heading back to the bargaining table, and Minnesota’s unemployment rate inches up. This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Tim Nelson. Music by Gary Meister.

Since the avian flu was first detected in Minnesota in March, nearly 3 million birds are known to have been infected destroyed.

Abortion rights supporters and opponents brace for a post-Roe Minnesota, and the EPA recommends revoking a PolyMet copper nickel mining permit. This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Tim Nelson. Music by Gary Meister.

In light of former WCCO Radio host Cory Hepola’s announcement that he’s governor under the Forward Party of Minnesota, Cathy Wurzer discusses third parties with professor Larry Jacobs of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School.

On the tail end of yet another COVID surge, hospitals everywhere are juggling labor shortages built upon a health care system that didn’t staff beyond its immediate needs to begin with. Hear the next story in a series by MPR News correspondents Catharine Richert and Brian Bakst. Theme music by Gary Meister.

I'm going to start out today by talking about something that has nothing to do with COVID-19, and yet is helpful for understanding what's happening right now: the tragically under-appreciated science fiction show, "The Expanse." Bear with me, this gets relevant!

Minnesota's messy COVID statistics may finally be coming back into focus, but we're still dealing with the hangover that makes it hard to tell exactly what happens.

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it smells like poop. While Minnesota's COVID-19 case data remains hopelessly snarled in days- or even weekslong delays, the wastewater analysis from the Met Council that I unveiled last week is much more current.

Last time I wrote about the early signs that Minnesota — or at least the Twin Cities — was beginning an omicron-driven COVID surge. The subsequent week and a half has borne that out — and how.