Sept. 3, 2021
Happy Labor Day weekend, Minnesota. With the first day of school just around the corner, St. Paul Public Schools join a handful of Minnesota districts requiring staff to get vaccinated or get tested weekly for COVID-19. The new policy goes into effect on Oct. 15. The district has already mandated mask-wearing for everyone inside school buildings regardless of their vaccine status. Curious if your city, county or district has mask or vaccination policies in place? We're keeping track. Check our list. Summer's almost behind us, but not the latest COVID-19 wave. Cases have accelerated through the late summer, driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Friday's report shows Minnesota averaging a little more than 1,600 new cases per day over the past seven days. That's more than three times the count at the start of August. Known, active cases also averaged more than 9,000 over the past week, and the test positivity rate is trending at 5.52 percent, remaining above the 5 percent threshold that public health officials find concerning. Two Minnesota U.S. representatives, Pete Stauber and Ilhan Omar, spoke about the Line 3 pipeline replacement project — from two very different angles. At an event in Minneapolis today, Omar and three other high-profile Democratic members of the House urged President Joe Biden to halt construction of Line 3 through Minnesota, arguing the line is a threat to the environment and tribal sovereignty. At a separate news conference earlier today, Republican Rep. Stauber spoke out in support of Line 3, saying it's safe and an economic boost for the region. He said he will fight any effort to stop the pipeline as it nears completion. Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. — Jiwon Choi, MPR News | 