Coronavirus Updates: Latest COVID-19 Headlines From May 1, 2020
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- On Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz extended the state's stay-at-home order by another two weeks for bars and restaurants while allowing retail businesses to open for curbside pickup. On the national level, another 3.8 million people have filed for unemployment in the last week, bringing the total number of those seeking jobless benefits in the country to 30 million since the start of the outbreak.
Here are the latest headlines in the COVID-19 pandemic:
- 9:20 p.m.: UMN's CIDRAP has unveiled a new COVID-19 study showing three possible scenarios the virus could take – we talked to Dr. Michael Osterholm, one of the doctors who did the study.
- 9:05 p.m.: Vigil held by nurses, first responders for COVID-19 victims on State Capitol steps.
- 9:00 p.m.: Eden Prairie Youth Baseball has canceled their season.
- 8:33 p.m.: Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm shared today that caregivers in Minnesota conducted 4,124 COVID-19 tests yesterday – a daily record for our state.
- 8:02 p.m.: Senate DFL Leader Susan Kent releases statement blasting GOP Sen. Jensen for zoom-ing into a Senate Hearing from the golf course
- 6:04 p.m.: The Loring Park Art Festival, which was scheduled for July 25 through July 26, has been cancelled.
- 4:11 p.m.: To ensure the "continued resiliency of the air traffic control system amid the COVID-19 pandemic," the FAA is planning to temporarily adjust the operating hours of approximately 100 control towers nationwide, beginning Monday. This includes towers at downtown St. Paul and Crystal airports. Click here for more information.
- 1:20 p.m.: A journalist who covered Vice President Pence's visit to the Mayo Clinic this week says Pence's office punished him after revealing that visitors were told to wear masks on the trip — a rule the vice president didn't follow.
- 12:48 p.m.: Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association will begin voting on a furlough agreement with Children's Minnesota Friday.
- 12:44 p.m.: A judge has ordered the Minnesota Department of Corrections to show that it is protecting inmates at the Moose Lake prison from COVID-19.
- 11:55 a.m.:Minneapolis Public Schools says the district's 2020 graduating class will have a virtual graduation ceremony, on the same day as their originally-scheduled ceremonies.
- 11 a.m.: Health officials say nearly 600 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Minnesota as daily testing surpassed 4,000. Meanwhile, 28 more people have died.
- 10:32 a.m.: HealthPartners is increasing COVID-19 testing capacity seven-fold, and expanding its drive-up testing locations beginning Monday.
- 9:03 a.m.: Minneapolis public boat launches opened on Friday, along with aquatic invasive species inspections at Bde Maka Ska, Lake Harriet and Lake Nokomis.
- 8:19 a.m.: The Minnesota Department of Corrections says 40 staff members across six facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, there are more than 100 positive or presumed positive cases of the virus among inmates across three state prisons.
- 6 a.m.: Workers at Target plan to hold a mass sickout Friday over what they claim are unsafe working conditions amid the pandemic.
- 5:54 a.m.: President Trump says he's hoping there can be a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year via "Operation Warp Speed."
- 5:51 a.m.: President Trump says he's seen evidence the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
