COVID-19 numbers climb in Cook County as governor eyes more restrictions statewide

Following recent reports of COVID-19 among staff at the local school district, hospital and clinic in Grand Marais, Cook County public health officials said Monday there are four additional cases of the new coronavirus in the community.  

Cook County officials said they received notice of four new COVID-19 cases since Nov. 5, including a man and a woman in their 20s, a man in his 30s and another man in his 70s. This brings the total case count for Cook County to 36 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Local healthcare officials said in recent updates on WTIP that community spread remains a primary reason for why the local case count continues to climb at a steady rate. The situation is similar in nearby Lake and St. Louis counties. Last week, for example, both counties had record daily highs for new cases multiple times within a seven-day period.

As the holiday season quickly approaches, the Associated Press reports that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will convene a special legislative session later this week to extend his peacetime emergency powers as the state sees a surge in COVID-19 cases. Walz is also planning to announce some targeted restrictions to help control the spread of the virus, the AP reports.

Walz plans to unveil at least some of his restrictions on Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 10), hinting that bars and restaurants might be among places seeing some tighter restrictions.