Tag: coronavirus

Billions in aid from COVID-19 relief bill headed to Minnesota

Star Tribune logo

The COVID relief bill includes state and local aid, help for the hospitality and agriculture sectors. 

WASHINGTON – Minnesota’s state and local governments, its ailing hospitality industry, struggling small businesses and the agricultural sector will get a financial boost from the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package.

An estimated nearly $4.9 billion will flow to Minnesota governments, including almost $2.6 billion to the state and another $2.1 billion for cities, counties and other local governments.

“The impact of this bill is going to be seen and felt by people in Minnesota right away, and it’s going to make a big difference as they’re digging themselves out of what’s been a really terrible public health and economic crisis,” said Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith in an interview. Continue reading.

House DFL lawmakers introduce legislation to increase opportunities for equitable COVID-19 vaccine access

House DFL logo

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – House DFL lawmakers Wednesday introduced new legislation to increase opportunities for equitable COVID-19 vaccine access. In response to the vast disparities outlined in reporting from the Minnesota Department of Health, Representative Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven), Representative Jay Xiong (DFL-St. Paul), Representative Hodan Hassan (DFL-Minneapolis), Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley), and 31 other House DFLers are leading efforts to close the gap and get more vaccine doses distributed to marginalized communities across the state.

“By doubling down on our efforts now to get shots into as many arms as possible, in every corner of the state, we can crush the virus and close the chapter on this public health crisis,” said Rep. Morrison, a practicing physician and Assistant Majority Leader in the Minnesota House. “The Minnesota Department of Health has been doing an incredible job handling the pandemic response, but we can and should do more for our communities who have been especially hit hard over the last year.”

The legislation would establish a Mobile Vaccine Program, in which mobile vaccination vehicles are deployed to disproportionately impacted communities around the state to provide COVID-19 vaccines to those residents. A mobile vaccination vehicle providing vaccines in a community with a large number of residents with limited English proficiency must also be staffed by interpreters for the needed languages.

Continue reading “House DFL lawmakers introduce legislation to increase opportunities for equitable COVID-19 vaccine access”

Federal officials relax guidance on nursing home visits, citing vaccines and slowing infections

Washington Post logo

Federal health officials on Wednesday substantially relaxed the government’s guidelines for family and friends to see nursing home residents in person, saying that vaccinations and a slowing of coronavirus infections in the facilities warrant restoring indoor visits in most situations.

The nursing home guidance, the first federal advice on the subject since September, says “outdoor visitation is preferred,” even when a nursing home resident and family or friends are fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

But acknowledging that weather or a resident’s poor health might make an outdoor visit impractical, the recommendations encourage nursing homes to permit indoor visits “at all times and for all residents,” regardless of whether people have been vaccinated, except in a few circumstances. Continue reading.

Here’s what’s in the $1.9T COVID-19 relief package

The Hill logo

President Biden is on the precipice of the biggest legislative win so far in his time in office: the signing of a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package the House is expected to approve Wednesday.

The package is highlighted by the $1,400 direct payments to be sent to millions of households, an extension of unemployment benefits and funding for vaccine distribution.

But it includes much more than those provisions. Here’s a look at what else is in the bill. Continue reading.

DFL Party Statement on President Biden Signing the American Rescue Plan Into Law

DFL Logo


SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, his $1.9 trillion COVID relief and stimulus bill, into law. The wide-ranging and incredibly popular bill contains numerous important measures to combatting COVID-19 and helping the American people build back better from the pandemic, including:

  • $1,400 relief checks for most Americans
  • Extended unemployment insurance of $300 per week through early September
  • Child tax credits of up to $3,600
  • More than $15 billion for vaccine distribution
  • Roughly $50 billion for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing
  • $130 billion to safely reopen schools
  • $350 billion in state and local aid

Every DFL member of Congress voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan and every Minnesota Republican voted against it. Republican opposition comes despite the bill’s tremendous popularity among voters across the political spectrum – 75% of American voters and 59% of Republican voters approve of the American Rescue Plan – and despite the roughly $1 billion in local government aid the bill will bring to Minnesota’s Republican-controlled congressional districts.

Continue reading “DFL Party Statement on President Biden Signing the American Rescue Plan Into Law”

Ramsey votes to stop enforcing Gov. Tim Walz’s mask mandate

Star Tribune logo

Ramsey officials said order infringes on individuals’ constitutional rights. 

The city of Ramsey has voted to stop enforcing Gov. Tim Walz’s mask mandate, arguing that the statewide effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is infringing on individuals’ constitutional rights.

In 4-3 vote Tuesday night, the City Council approved the measure put forth by council members Ryan Heineman and Chelsee Howell stating that city resources “physical, financial or otherwise shall not be used to enforce any of Gov. Walz’s Emergency Executive Orders.”

It was not immediately clear what liability the city might face as a result of the vote, which was discouraged by city attorney Joe Langel. Continue reading.

Leaked texts contradict DeSantis’s claims about vaccine scandal

Raw Story Logo

Ron DeSantis, the Trump-loving governor of Florida, is getting into more hot water over claims that his office steered vaccines toward wealthy communities filled with Republican donors.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that leaked text messages between donors and public officials indicate that DeSantis’s office was involved with directing which areas got special access to vaccines, despite the governor’s denials of favoritism.

At issue is the method by which officials in Manatee County had initially set up vaccination eligibility versus the way that vaccination eligibility was actually determined. Continue reading.

Trucker thought COVID would ‘disappear’ after the election – now he will be on oxygen the rest of his life

Raw Story Logo

In an interview with the Idaho Statesman’s Audrey Dutton, 63-year-old long-haul trucker Paul Russell admitted his career is over because he didn’t take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, believing it would simply disappear after the November election.

After contracting the virus and nearly dying, he now admits he was a “jackass” who will have to spend the rest of his life on oxygen due to the damage inflicted on his body by the novel coronavirus.

According to Russell, he wasn’t taking precautions on a trip from Florida back to Boise — with a stop in Houston — when he thinks he was infected and felt ill before he got home. Continue reading.

A viral tsunami: How the underestimated coronavirus took over the world

Washington Post logo

New Year’s Eve 2019: Ian Lipkin, a famed Columbia University epidemiologist, is having dinner with his wife and a fellow scientist. He gets a confidential phone call from a highly placed source in China: There’s a cluster of pneumonia-like illnesses in the city of Wuhan caused by a novel coronavirus. The source says it’s not that big a deal: It doesn’t look very transmissible.

“I was told not to worry about it,” Lipkin recalls.

It was something to worry about. Continue reading.

House votes to send $1.9 trillion COVID relief package to Biden’s desk

Axios logo

The House voted 220-211 on Wednesday to approve the Senate’s revised version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, sending the bill to Biden’s desk to be signed.

Why it matters: The passage of the “American Rescue Plan” is the first — and potentially defining — legislative victory of Biden’s presidency, marking a key milestone in his pledge to steer the U.S. out of the coronavirus crisis.

The big picture: The package is being touted by Democrats as one of the most consequential anti-poverty bills of the modern era, with the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center projecting that it will boost incomes for the poorest 20% of Americans by 20%. Continue reading.