across all five campuses. the university will extend its spring break to two weeks, ending march 18, at which time classes will resume through online instruction. online instruction will continue until at least april 1 including field experience and clinical. during this time, residence halls, dining services, and other student services will continue normal operation. mayo clinic also began "drive-through testing" for the virus, though patients still needed to be approved to be tested by telephone screening. march 12 9 total cases are confirmed in minnesota with the four new cases all considered to be travel-related. the new cases are reported in hennepin, dakota, and stearns counties. all non-critical cases had begun recovering at home in isolation. at this time, the minnesota department of health did not recommend closing schools. march 13 14 total cases are confirmed in minnesota; the new cases were reported to be in hennepin, ramsey, anoka, dakota, carver, and wright counties. as of this date, more than 550 people have been tested for the virus in the state. governor walz declares a peacetime state of emergency. he says, "we are going into a heightened state of readiness to protect minnesotans." march 14 21 total cases confirmed in minnesota. all 7 new cases were connected to contact with a confirmed case of covid-19. all seven patients begin recovering at home in self-isolation. 868 total tests have been conducted. march 15 35 total cases confirmed in minnesota. the new cases involved residents of hennepin, ramsey, dakota, olmsted, waseca, and washington counties. additionally, the minnesota department of health reports three of the new cases were exposed via community transmission. governor tim walz announces the temporary closure of all minnesota k-12 public schools from march 18 until march 27. he says, "my top priority as governor is the safety of minnesotans. as a former teacher, and father of two teenage kids, i'm especially focused on the safety of our children." during the school shutdown, meals and mental health services will still be provided to students in need. under the governor's order, schools will remain open for elementary-aged children of health care workers and other emergency workers. teachers will be using this time to plan for a possibility of weeks of long-distance learning. march 16 the minnesota legislature begins scaling back operations as the state house and senate will be meeting on an on-call basis. for future meetings, they will be meeting in locations that allow for 6 feet between representatives. governor tim walz announces in executive order 20-04 that all non-essential businesses close until march 27, 2020, citing the first confirmed case of community spread, detected the previous day, as his cause for this action. march 17 the minnesota department of health (mdh) today announces that due to a national shortage of covid-19 laboratory testing materials, the state is forced to make adjustments to its testing criteria to focus on the highest priority specimens, including hospitalized patients. delivering surgical masks in minnesota march 21 the state confirms its first death due to the virus; the patient was from ramsey county and was in their 80s. the patient had contracted the virus from a confirmed case. lieutenant governor peggy flanagan also confirms her brother died due to the coronavirus in nashville, tn. march 23 a marquee at brave new workshop in downtown minneapolis referencing coronavirus the governor makes several announcements regarding the state's response to the virus: a small business loan program would be made available for possibly 5000 businesses during the week for amounts between $2,500 and $35,000 all elective veterinary surgeries would be halted the budget for the response to the virus would be revised, asking for an additional $365 million march 25 the state announces a total of 287 confirmed cases of the virus, 26 of which required hospitalization. it is reported that the actual number of cases was likely at least 10 times higher than this number. governor tim walz signs executive order 20-20. this order states that all people currently residing in minnesota are to shelter in place beginning march 27, 2020 at 11:59pm through april 10, 2020 at 5:00pm. walz also signs executive orders 20-18 and 20–19. executive order 20-18 extended the previous statewide closure of all non-essential businesses, which was due to end march 27, 2020, to remain closed until may 1, 2020. executive order 20-19 extended school closures and a "distance learning period" was ordered to begin in minnesota from march 30, 2020, until may 4, 2020. april 8 governor tim walz extended the stay at home (executive order 20–33) order until may 3 at 11:59 pm. he cited his reason for doing so due to the new data and new discoveries on about covid-19 since the original order was put in place. he is also allowing hardware and garden shops to open so long as they follow all the minnesota department of health guidelines. april 17 protestor at the governor's residence in st. paul during the early hours of the 17th, president donald trump tweeted "liberate minnesota" in reference to governor tim walz's stay at home order. later that afternoon, several hundred citizens protested the order in front of the governor's residence in st. paul. the protest was organized largely via facebook by the minnesota gun rights caucus. ben dorr, a head member of the advocacy group, has repeatedly called for the state to reopen and has claimed that covid-19 poses no greater threat to public health than the flu. dorr has two older brothers who are also gun-rights advocates. the three have used their collective social media presence to call for additional protests. during his usual daily press conference, governor walz announced that it was now permitted for people to engage in various outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, hunting, and motor-boating so long as they maintained a safe and reasonable distance from other people. as well as allowing people to engage in various outdoor activities, he allowed golf courses and bait shops to open. walz stated these plans were conceptualized before the president's tweet and the civilian protest. april 29 mdh covid data results from april 29, 2020, included a backlog of tests loaded into system. https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html#testingm1 april 30 governor tim walz extended the stay at home order for minnesota to sunday may 17 at 11:59 pm. he stated that staying home is the most powerful weapon to "defeat" the virus and that "we must run the full marathon and not stop at mile 20". furthermore, he is requiring certain personal to wear face masks and strongly urging the general public to do the same. may 2020 the minnesota state fair was cancelled in response to the pandemic. may 18 after being previously extended, the stay-at-home order expired and was replaced with a "stay safe minnesota" order. this occurred at a time when new cases and hospitalizations were both increasing. referring to the changes as a "measured minnesota approach", walz clarified that "we're not flipping a switch and everything's going back to normal at once... we're slowly moving the dial and introducing more interaction between people over time." he also announced that bars, restaurants, gyms, and salons would remain closed. may 21 the current single-day record of new cases was set, with 982 positive tests being reported. may 26 following the murder of george floyd on may 25, protesters gathered in large groups for vigils, marches and demonstrations, first in minneapolis and saint paul, and later throughout the state. most protesters wore masks and people were generally able to limit exposure through social distancing, brief interactions, and by being outdoors. while health experts warned that the protests could lead to an increased risk of a surge in covid-19 cases, testing indicated that few of the protesters contracted the disease. the use of tear gas and pepper spray by the minneapolis police department and the minnesota national guard was criticized for creating conditions where the virus could spread more easily by exacerbating respiratory infections, increasing exposure rates, and compromising immune systems. june 3 mdh covid data results from june 3, 2020, included a backlog of tests loaded into system. https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html#testingm1 june 12 gov. walz extended the emergency order through july 13. june 12 at least 88 of approximately 1,000 workers at an amazon warehouse in shakopee tested positive. an additional 99 positive tests had been reported at other amazon sites in the twin cities as of this date. june 12–13 over 100 cases were reported among people in their 20s who patronized crowded bars in the mankato area, during the first weekend that indoor service was permitted. a cluster of 30 cases was also reported at two minneapolis bars. july 2020 minnesota experienced a significant increase in positive cases beginning in late june and extending into july consistent with the greater nationwide trend. however, in mid-july, the number of new deaths and hospitalizations were still decreasing. it has been observed that this increase was largely driven by the 20-29 age group, and by communities in the twin cities suburbs. july 13 gov. walz extended the emergency order for 30 more days, through august 12. july 20 the state records its youngest fatality from the virus: a 9 month old baby from clay county who died with no underlying health conditions. august 12 a seneca foods packing facility in glencoe had 33 confirmed and 12 suspected cases. although about 200 workers had been tested on arrival, test results were delayed by more than 10 days. august 18 mdh covid data results from august 18, 2020, included a backlog of tests loaded into system. https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html#testingm1 august 21 the state had 15 cases traced to the sturgis motorcycle rally, with more cases expected. although public health notices were issued for rally locations including one-eyed jack's saloon, the knuckle saloon, the broken spoke, and asylum tattoo in sturgis, and for the bumpin' buffalo bar and grill in hill city, some cases among minnesota rallygoers could not be traced to specific locations. a minnesota public health official urged anyone who had traveled to sturgis to monitor for symptoms for 14 days, adding that "if you are feeling ill after returning from the event, please get tested and self-isolate while you wait for the test results." between june 12 and august 21, 29 restaurants in minnesota had outbreaks. two of the largest clusters were in mankato and st. cloud, with 118 and 117 cases respectively. august 22 a cluster of cases was linked to a wedding held in ghent. august 24 the state had a total of 27 cases traced to the sturgis motorcycle rally. twenty-five cases were among attendees, and two cases were employees or volunteers at the event. august 26 mdh covid data results from august 26, 2020, included a backlog of tests loaded into system. https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html#testingm1 august 29 at least 21 clusters of cases associated with parties, weddings, funerals and other social gatherings were identified in august. during the preceding week, cases were traced to 29 minnesota bars and restaurants, and one or more cases were reported in 51 minnesota colleges and universities. more sturgis rallygoers tested positive, for a total of 46 minnesota infections linked directly to sturgis. secondary transmission and positive cases were identified among contacts of sturgis attendees. august 31 cases traced to sturgis attendees rose to 49. minnesota department of health (mdh) commissioner jan malcolm said that cases had plateaued at a high level, and "now we're starting to inch back up again. we have not improved." over the weekend, there were 1,032 new cases on saturday, and 934 on sunday, "also one of the highest days yet." september 1 cases remained high, with 502 cases announced on this day. rural leseur county had over 15% case positivity. "health officials have shifted their concern from urban bars and, to some extent, statewide youth sporting events. they look now to a routine sort of abandonment of health guidance at everyday informal social gatherings." mdh covid data results from september 1, 2020, included a backlog of tests loaded into system. https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html#testingm1 september 2 a news story stated that "nearly half of an iowa national guard battalion that came to train at camp ripley in minnesota this summer became sick with or were exposed to covid-19." september 8 winona state university began a 14-day campus quarantine, citing "an increase in asymptomatic