COVID-19: Coverage of the pandemic from MPR News

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Evers extends Wisconsin stay-at-home order until May 26
Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday extended Wisconsin's stay-at-home order for another month, keeping nonessential businesses closed until after the Memorial Day holiday weekend to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
U of M says it can do widespread COVID-19 testing with homegrown tech
University of Minnesota experts say with $20 million in state funding they could soon begin testing up to 10,000 people per day for the coronavirus and another 10,000 per day for the presence of antibodies that indicate they have recovered from COVID-19.
Counter Stories: COVID-19 is hitting communities of color hard
Whether it's the illness itself, the racism that comes with it, or the unsafe conditions for workers now deemed essential, the coronavirus is exacerbating racial injustices.
Local farmers, reliant on shuttered schools and restaurants, find new markets
Thousands of Minnesota farms grow food that supply schools, restaurants and families with everything from meat to vegetables to flour. The coronavirus pandemic has turned many of those markets upside down.
Smithfield Foods closes plants in Wisconsin, Missouri
Smithfield Foods will temporarily close its plants in Cudahy, Wis., and Martin City, Mo., because of the coronavirus pandemic. Smithfield said a small number of employees at both plants have tested positive for COVID-19. The company’s Sioux Falls, S.D., plant is closed indefinitely after an outbreak there.
April 16 update on COVID-19 in MN: 94 dead, 103 in ICU; U eyes going big on testing
The numbers come a day after Gov. Tim Walz said Minnesota would need a huge increase soon in COVID-19 testing. University of Minnesota scientists said Thursday they’ve invented a way to do that.