Minnesota reports 45 new virus deaths

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota reported 45 new COVID-19 deaths and more than 9,000 coronavirus cases on Saturday.

The Star Tribune reports the tally released Saturday covers two days worth of data.

The report from the Minnesota Department of Health came one day after the state for the first time saw more than 100 deaths reported within a 24-hour period.

With the latest figures, Minnesota has now seen 304,023 positive cases, 16,423 hospitalizations and 3,521 deaths since the pandemic arrive here in March.

Residents of long-term care and assisted-living facilities accounted for 23 of the newly announced deaths, and 2,378 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Numbers released Saturday show health care workers have accounted for 22,292 positive cases — up by more than 200 cases from last week. More than 257,000 people who were infected no longer need to be isolated.

Woman arrested in fatal shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis police are investigating a shooting death at an apartment complex on the city’s South Side.

The Star Tribune reports officers responded to a report of a shooting shortly after 2 p.m. Friday. They found a man in his 20s suffering from an gunshot wound, police spokesman John Elder said. The man died at the scene.

His death marked the city’s 79th homicide this year, and the third this week.

Investigators arrested a 24-year-old woman who was later booked into the Hennepin County jail on probable cause murder charges.

Police believe she was in a relationship with the victim. Jail records indicate she lived in the two-story apartment complex.

Iowa Grand jury: police shooting justified

ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — A grand jury has found that a deadly police shooting outside a motel in a Des Moines suburb was justified.

Altoona police announced late Friday that jurors reached the decision not to indict an officer or a Polk County sheriff’s deputy in the September shooting of 51-year-old Jeffrey Meyer more than two weeks ago, the Des Moines Register reports.

Altoona Lt. Alyssa Wilson, a police spokesperson, said the delay in making the announcement was the result of more than one police agency being involved and the need to assemble and get approval for the release of a dashcam video. The video included the department’s own narration of what happened, with sections sped up or obscured.