The Latest: High school league cancels spring sports

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. – The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Minnesota (all times local):

5:20 p.m.

The Minnesota State High School League on Thursday cancelled all spring sports and activities for the rest of the school year.

The league made the announcement after Gov. Tim Walz ended the school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The league’s cancellation applies to all practices, tryouts, scrimmages and games as well as post-season tournaments.

The Star Tribune reports the league began notifying member schools Thursday afternoon. The league’s Board of Directors meets Friday and will provide additional guidance.

Last month the league had extended the shutdown of spring sports until May 4, when Walz’s stay-at-home order is scheduled to end.

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6:45 a.m.

One of Minnesota’s deadliest outbreaks of the coronavirus in a single setting is at a senior care campus in New Hope where 12 residents have died of complications of the virus.

Records reviewed by the Star Tribune show the deaths since April 6 involve residents at St. Therese of New Hope who were between 82 and 96 years old.

Most residents died from pneumonia and other respiratory complications caused by COVID-19, the disease that has killed 179 people in Minnesota. State health officials say 129 of those deaths are linked to long-term care facilities.

Administrators at St. Therese say they are working with the state Department of Health on a response to the outbreak. The campus includes a 258-bed nursing home, as well as independent and assisted living residences.

Nursing homes have been on lockdown for weeks to protect their vulnerable residents. Those infected with the coronavirus are quarantined on a single unit at St. Therese. Employees are being screened for signs of the illness before each shift.