ST. PAUL — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced a new COVID-19 testing website on Friday, April 23, meant to help Minnesotans determine which of the 127 facilities offering tests is closest to them.

The website's unveiling comes after Walz said on Wednesday that the state is partnering with Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota and other health care providers to strive toward testing up to 20,000 per day.

Using the website, Minnesotans can utilize a self-screening tool to determine if they should get tested for COVID-19.

“The interactive testing site is one of only a handful, I believe, in the entire country. It will be continuously updated as we stand up more clinics in that capacity,” Walz said. “This should really help us as we focus on making sure that we’re testing, tracing contacts then isolating in our community.”

In order for the state to meet its goal of testing up to 20,000 people per day, Walz said it’s critical for the number of testing sites to increase to the point where there’s a location in every county that’s relatively easy to get to, something he said will take a few weeks. The idea, he said, is that if someone wakes up in the morning with symptoms they should be able to find a testing location nearby to get tested that same day.

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Regarding whether or not he’s going to extend the stay-at-home order beyond May 4, Walz said that Minnesotans can expect to hear more in the middle of next week, adding that restaurants and bars reopening to customers is likely a ways off.

“We're going to look at the data that's out there, we're going to see what our testing charts show,” Walz said. “My pledge to Minnesota is to continue to transparently show how we’re thinking through these things and then give as much lead time as possible.”

In a conference call largely centered around distant learning, Minnesota Commissioner of Education Mary Cathryn Ricker said that while school closures put burdens on teachers and families across Minnesota, it’s disproportionately affecting communities of color, refugees, low-income families, Indigenous families and students with disabilities.

“We know distance learning hasn't been going perfectly,” Ricker said. “It's actually been really hard.”

That is why the state’s education department is committing to providing additional support for students, families and educators. Intentional relationship building, Ricker said, is at the center of an equitable distance learning plan and is necessary precedent to learning.

“There is a really old adage in education and that is ‘students don't care what you know until they know you care,’” Ricker said, adding that the more a student feels connected to their school community the more likely the student’s academic needs will be met, too.

MDE is sharing with educators examples of relationship building during distance learning that’s proving to work.

To address disparities in technology and broadband access across the state, work is being done to get broadband access and devices to every student still in need, something Ricker said will be Minnesota’s highest priority when spending new federal dollars.

“Know that we will leave no stone unturned to try and make this happen for our students,” Ricker said.

The Minnesota Department of Health on Friday reported that in total 3,185 Minnesotans had tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, of 53,787 tested. The state processed 2,239 tests Thursday, the greatest single day test total to date.

State health officials warn that figure significantly undercounts the number of people who are infected or have had the disease because testing has not yet been made available to all who show symptoms.

In total, 221 have died from the illness or its complications, officials reported. There were 278 hospitalized Friday due to COVID-19 and 111 were intensive care units. Another 1,594 infected with the illness have recovered and are out of isolation.

Patients were confirmed to have the illness in 78 of Minnesota's 87 counties and Nobles County, home to the now-closed JBS pork processing plant, reported an increase of 62 more confirmed cases as compared to a day prior. Kandiyohi County saw confirmed cases grow to 12, up eight from a day before.

Deaths reported from the virus occurred in Anoka, Hennepin, Olmsted and Ramsey counties.

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Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 hotline: 651-201-3920.

COVID-19 discrimination hotline: 833-454-0148

Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 website: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) website.