With 85 more confirmed cases and five deaths from COVID-19 in Minnesota announced Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has extended the stay-at-home order to May 4.

The original stay-at-home order in Minnesota was set to expire this Friday, April 10.  However, the order appears to be doing its job in delaying the peak cases and lowering total expected deaths associated with the disease within the state.

According to an article at StarTribune.com:

The fatality rate has been lower than expected as well, though that is largely due to Minnesota hospitals having

adequate beds and ventilators to treat severe cases so far. Initial models suggested a surge of severe cases that could overwhelm those hospitals and increase the death rate because some patients with severe respiratory symptoms wouldn’t have ventilators when needed.

By extending the stay-at-home order, hospitals across the state would ideally have more time to continue to stock up on necessary supplies, rooms and ventilators.

The definition of "essential business" has also been updated to include lawn care businesses, nurseries, medical cannabis, and a lengthy list of additional business categories. You can see the full list here.

You can follow the link below to follow updated COVID-19 stats in Minnesota, as provided by the Minnesota Department of Health.

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