From the Editor: Covering the coronavirus for Minnesotans

There are nearly 240 journalists at the Star Tribune — and almost none of them are in the newsroom now.

Like many of you, we are hunkering down to work from home as the public health threat of the COVID-19 pandemic escalates. And we are striving to do something that we have never done: publish a daily newspaper and news website entirely remotely.

It's not easy, we are discovering. But it's a necessity to protect our staff and still bring you comprehensive, around-the-clock coverage of this crisis.

As a public service, readers can access our coverage of the virus digitally at no charge. We also are publishing a new daily digital newsletter that assembles all of our virus coverage in one place.

In the daily print edition, we are expanding coverage of the pandemic even as we will have no choice but to scale back a few other sections as sports, government and cultural events have been canceled.

This is a difficult time for all of us. We are urging our journalists to take precautions to stay healthy when they are out reporting stories. But we are committed to making sure that you have all the news you need on the virus and its growing impact in our community.

If you are a subscriber, thank you very much for your ongoing support. If you're not, we ask that you consider subscribing to help us do the vital work of journalism in the worst of times.

We wish you and your families safety and good health.