Report: Minnesota Republicans Didn’t Tell Democrats About Coronavirus Cases Before Floor Session

Members of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party were not warned about positive coronavirus cases among a number of Republican elected officials and their staff prior to a floor session, according to the Star Tribune.

Instead, those in the GOP were informed in a Tuesday memo about the tests. In it, the Senate Republican chief of staff told all GOP staffers to work from home, including during a floor session on Thursday. But members of the DFL were not warned.

“It is outrageous and completely unacceptable that Senate DFLers were not notified of the recent COVID-19 outbreak among Senate Republicans prior to Thursday’s floor session,” the Senate minority leader said in a statement Friday.

“This lack of transparency is a blatant disregard for the health and safety of others: our DFL and nonpartisan staff, members, and the communities we go home to.”

The state’s health department reported a record number of single-day cases on Saturday: 8,703.

William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt is a writer and editor from New Hampshire whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Progressive, Slate and Areo Magazine, among other places. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from Boston University.