According to Kare 11, the MDH (Minnesota Department of Health) and CDC (Center for Disease Control) have reported 5 cases of the new strain of COVID-19. On December 14, 2020, the BBC reported that a new strain had been detected in the UK. Since then, the BBC has confirmed that government advisors in the UK have said that they are confident that the new strain spreads more easily than the original novel coronavirus. The new COVID cases are in people from ages 15 to 37 years old. So far, none of those cases have been hospitalized, and the first person got sick on December 16, 2020. According to the state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield, because there are cases of the new strain in other parts of the US, it was expected that cases would be detected in Minnesota, and new cases do not change public health guidelines. She also stressed that this new strain, although spreading more easily, has no evidence to suggest that it is more deadly than the original virus. It should also be noted that according to the MDH Director of Infectious Disease, Kris Ehresmann, the vaccine that is being distributed currently should be effective against the new strain.

As of January 11, the Cannon Falls Middle and High School will be switching from a full-time distance learning model to a hybrid one. This comes after the decision by the COVID advisory committee last week. Cohort 1 will start hybrid learning in school, and Cohort 2 will distance learning on January 11. Cohort 2 will be in school on January 18, with Cohort 1 distance learning that week.

In the timeframe of January 5 to January 8, 2021, there were 4 staff members and 9 students at Cannon Falls Area Schools that were quarantined due to having close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Since September 8, 2020, 12 staff members and 22 students have tested positive for COVID. 

As of January 8, according to Goodhue County Health and Human Services, 856 residents of Goodhue County have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. At that time, there were 338 active cases of COVID, and 26 of those were hospitalized. In total, there have been 51 deaths out of a total of 3,239 confirmed positive cases and 41 probable positive cases obtained from antigen testing.

According to the MDH, on January 9 alone, there were 1,942 confirmed positive cases and 223 probable cases in Minnesota. There were 44 newly reported deaths. In total, there have been 419,923 confirmed positive cases and 16,649 probable cases with 5,707 of those resulting in death. 22,763 cases have been hospitalized with 4,770 of those in the ICU. 

From January 3 to January 10, 2021, the CDC reported 1,740,950 new cases of COVID-19 in the US. In total, there have been 21,853,491 cases since January 21, 2020. From January 3 to January 10, there were 20,807 newly reported deaths, contributing to a total of 21,853,491 deaths.