When North Dakota reaches the gateway to the 500 dead, Burgham praises the patchwork of local mask obligations.

Over the past two weeks, multiple city and tribal governments have participated in various forms of mask mandates, as North Dakota continues to lead the outbreak of COVID-19 nationwide. Bismarck, Grand Forks, Devil’s Lake, Standing Rock Reservation, and Fort Berthold Reservation all raised masking guidance this week, somehow bringing nearly half of the state’s population.

“It’s about law as well as social psychology,” said Mr. Bergham, expressing his support for any policy that persuades more people to adhere to masking. Bergham frequently expresses skepticism about the benefits and execution of missions at the state-wide level, but stricter local policies may persuade more people to sell the cause. I suggested that I couldn’t.

“If it works in their community, I’m like Hallelujah, if so,” he said.

In addition to the municipalities that set requirements last week, many other North Dakota communities have already opted for mandates, including Fargo, West Fargo, Minot, Turtle Mountain Reservation, and Spirit Lake Reservation.

Bergham sought to coordinate the distinction between state-wide and local missions on Thursday, refuting a series of journalist questions in this regard, calling Musk’s mission “media obsession.”

However, the Republican governor also made a strong tone about the severity of the virus, emphasizing the importance of controlling the current surge before winter completely shuts down outdoor gatherings.

On Thursday, Bergham raised eight more counties in North Dakota to state “high risk” levels. This includes the Grand Forks, Devil’s Lake and Minot communities. High-risk level designations require companies to reduce capacity to 25% and limit it to 50 people.

The state’s high-risk levels previously required the closure of certain businesses, but Burgum adjusted those requirements when 16 counties were raised to high levels two weeks ago. County raised to orange risk levels on Thursday are recommended, but not required, to follow capacity reduction and masking guidelines in accordance with state-adjusted policies.

As part of a greater effort to flatten the steep coronavirus curve in North Dakota, Burgham seeks to double its efforts to find and isolate asymptomatic cases heading for winter. Said. Earlier this week, the federal government announced that it would send 220,000 rapid COVID-19 tests to North Dakota for distribution by the state. Approximately 75,000 prompt tests were sent directly to the nursing home. The newly developed test returns results in just 15 minutes.

Burgum has talked about the use of tests in nursing homes and schools in the past. US Assistant Secretary of Health and Welfare Brett Guilloil said Thursday that weekly shipments are scheduled, encouraging the governor to use expedited inspections rather than rations.

The state reports 11 COVID deaths and pandemic records for active cases

The new masking policy came when North Dakota reported a new daily record of COVID-19 positivity on Thursday, October 29, bringing the state to another pandemic height in active cases. .. And on Thursday, 11 deaths were reported, and the state reached the gateway to 500 virus deaths.

As North Dakota’s already expanded healthcare system continued to underwrite new strains, the state’s Ministry of Health revealed in a recent report that 184 people were hospitalized for the virus.

North Dakota continues to be the national leader in multiple outbreak rankings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLast week, we reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases and per capita deaths in the country. In the Upper Midwest, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Montana have all experienced a surge in cases over the past month and a surge in virus across the region.

With 1,222 new positive cases reported Thursday, the state set a new active case record of 6,771.

However, the total number of active cases from the Ministry of Health’s daily report is tentative. In the past, the state has reported a large backlog of collections, retroactively disclosing nearly 500 unreported collections since the weekend earlier this week. According to the health analysis team, the department is reporting a late recovery. This means that the total of daily active cases may be updated at a later date.
A serious outbreak has occurred in Ward County, including Minot, in recent weeks, with a surprising surge in new cases and deaths last week. The county reported the deaths of nine on Tuesday, five on Wednesday, and three on Thursday. The state’s latest report reveals 165 new COVID positives in the ward, bringing the county’s active total to 835, making it the third-largest hotspot in the state after the densely populated Burleigh and Cass counties. I did.

In addition to deaths in Ward County, the state reported a single death on Thursday in Cass, Dicky, Emmons, Logan, Stutzman, McLean, Oliver, and Lansom counties, with the highest total reported deaths There were 499 people.

The admission of six new COVID patients to a hospital in North Dakota brought state-wide admissions to a record 184 on Thursday. Another 103 patients were initially hospitalized for other illnesses but later became COVID-19 positive. Forty-one residents carrying the virus are in the intensive care unit.

The state is struggling with the lack of available beds as COVID hospitalizations converge with the burden of medical staff and high non-coronavirus hospitalization rates. According to the state, there are 20 intensive care units and 216 regular inpatient beds. State latest figures..

Cass County, including Fargo, and Burleigh County, including Bismarck, have been competing for the state’s largest hotspots in the past week. Cass reported 278 new cases on Thursday and currently has the largest outbreak in the state, with 1,220 active cases. Burley reported 169 new cases on Thursday, with a total of 1,128 active cases.

Grand Forks County has the fourth largest outbreak in the state after Ward. The county reported 97 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total of its active cases to 704.

Approximately 15.6% of the 8,402 residents tested as part of the latest batch received positive results, while 24.8% of the first-time tested residents received positive results.

North Dakota does not report a 7-day moving average of positive rates, but the Forum News Service found 11.8% of all tested residents in tests conducted on previously untested residents. I calculated it as 20.8%.

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Readers can contact reporter Adam Willis, a member of the Report for Americacorps, at awillis @ forumcomm.com.