ST. PAUL (KMHL) - Sunday was the deadliest day for Minnesota from fatalities from COVID-19. It was again the biggest single-day jump in cases, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Health officials say 28 people died on Sunday from COVID-19 - upping the state's total to 272. The department of health says there are now over 3,200 confirmed cases in Minnesota. Health officials say 285 people remained hospitalized with COVID-19 and 115 were in intensive care. Cases also continue to climb around southwest Minnesota. Nobles county now has 352 confirmed cases, while Murray County now has 8 confirmed cases. Jackson [...]

ST. PAUL (LEARFIELD)  -- Some Minnesotans can return to work as soon as Monday after an executive order signed by Governor Tim Walz yesterday. The governor says 80-to-100 thousand Minnesotans could return to work Monday under his latest executive order. It allows workers to return to industrial, manufacturing and office settings that do face customers. Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove called this a limited first step in the process of safely re-opening some businesses.

WORTHINGTON (KMHL) – Numbers of COVID-19 continue to rise in southwest Minnesota. According to numbers from the Minnesota Department of Health, there are 196 confirmed cases of the virus in Nobles County. It is by far the largest hotspot in the region. Health officials say there are six confirmed cases in Lyon County, 4 in Murray County, 3 in Yellow Medicine and Renville Counties, 2 in Lincoln County and one in Redwood County and Lac Qui Parle Counties. State health officials reported 21 COVID 19 deaths yesterday.

ST. PAUL (LEARFIELD) - Governor Tim Walz Wednesday announced an agreement to further Minnesota's COVID-19 testing ability. "The capacity we're announcing today to test 20,000 Minnesotans per day the increased testing and tracing will improve our control of the pandemic and help us think about those strategies to start re-opening our society," said the governor during a press conference. Walz added that its not a pass to mean that everything is back to normal. Leaders from the Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota and other health systems around the state were on hand for the announcement. Walz says the strategy is a [...]

WINDOM (LEARFIELD)  --  Another pork processing plant in southern Minnesota is shutting down due to the coronavirus. Comfrey Farm Prime Pork in Windom announced Tuesday that it is closing indefinitely after a virus outbreak among employees. Chief Financial Officer Tom Seigfreid said in a statement, "when we discovered our first positive case of COVID-19 at the plant, we immediately activated Comfrey Farm Prime Pork’s COVID-19 response plan." He says they are doing everything they can to prioritize the health and safety of the employees and communities. Seigfreid also said most employees are expected back at work on Friday. The closing comes [...]

MARSHALL (KMHL) – Southwest Minnesota State University has announced that it was named the 2020 Safest College in Minnesota from Your Local Security dot com. The university says the website bases its rankings on data from the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security list and the FBI's 2018 Uniform Crime Report for campuses with a minimum of 5,000 students offering a two- or four-year degree that is a public, private or non-profit university. "Incoming freshmen and their parents can feel better entering college when they know their campus has crime prevention measures and crisis management systems in place to ensure [...]

ST. PAUL (LEARFIELD)  --  Minnesota Senate Democrats are asking Republicans to agree to a statewide mail-in ballot for the upcoming elections. Minority Leader Susan Kent called on the G-O-P to do the work now, "to ensure Minnesotans can exercise their right to vote regardless of the social distancing circumstances we may or may not be in at that time." Big Lake Republican Mary Kiffmeyer argues Minnesota can safely conduct the election with a combination of absentee ballots and physical polling locations -- which is current law. At least seven COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin are reportedly linked to in-person voting in the [...]