Despite the planning, the shutdowns, the remote working and schools, the hundreds of millions of dollars spent, and an effective vaccine, December 2021 – nearly two years after that initial case was detected – was the high watermark for hospital bed shortages, where at times there were literally no intensive care unit beds available in the state. 

Hear the first in a series of reports from MPR News correspondents Brian Bakst and Catharine Richert.

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