COVID-19 hospitalizations in North Dakota jumped 42% over the weekend.
The state's coronavirus dashboard on Monday showed 88 coronavirus patients in North Dakota hospitals, up from 62 on Friday and a dramatic increase from 12 at the beginning of August. The Health Department has said the bulk of hospitalized virus patients are people who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
State data showed 224 available staffed inpatient beds and 21 available intensive care unit beds statewide. In Bismarck, Sanford Health had six available staffed beds and two ICU beds, and CHI St. Alexius Health had none in either category.
A typical light day of test results on Sunday yielded 144 new virus cases reported Monday. State officials calculated a positivity rate of 14.69%. The 14-day rolling average test positivity rate rose to 6.43%. That rate has been rising for more than a month and is now above the state's target of less than 5%. Health officials have blamed the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
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The new COVID-19 cases brought North Dakota's pandemic total to 116,977, with 113,333 recoveries, 4,638 hospitalizations and 1,560 deaths. No new deaths were reported over the weekend or on Monday.
Active virus cases were at 2,084 statewide and 513 in Burleigh-Morton counties. Burleigh County now leads the state with 398 active cases, 31 more than in Cass County, home to Fargo.
Health officials are urging people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 to get a shot, to help stem the rapid rise in cases. About 683,000 total doses of the three available COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in North Dakota, with about 101,200 doses in Burleigh-Morton counties, according to the state's vaccine dashboard. It shows 50.7% of eligible North Dakota adults are considered fully vaccinated; 23.4% of adolescents in the 12-18 age group are considered fully vaccinated.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear masks in public indoor settings in areas with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission. That's calculated based on new cases per capita and testing results. All but five of North Dakota's 53 counties are in those two categories, with most in the high category. Burleigh and Morton both are in the high category, according to the agency's COVID-19 data tracker website.
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa last week mandated the use of masks on its reservation in north central North Dakota, in high-risk Rolette County.
Order of the Buffalo Hunt
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister on Monday inducted Gov. Doug Burgum and all other North Dakota residents into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, a provincial honor recognizing contributions in the realms of politics, business, sports and entertainment.
The honor recognizes Burgum's efforts earlier this year to vaccinate Manitoba-based truck drivers in North Dakota for COVID-19.
“Manitoba and North Dakota have a long and rich history of mutual respect and friendship, and Gov. Burgum and his team have been instrumental in strengthening that relationship,” Pallister said in a statement. “This award is being presented to Gov. Burgum to recognize his goodwill and support for Manitoba in providing lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines to our province’s essential workers.”
Thousands of truck drivers were vaccinated through the initiative, which Burgum expanded to include Saskatchewan drivers.
More information
A list of free COVID-19 testing offered by local public health units is at health.nd.gov/covidtesting. People can go to health.nd.gov/covidvaccinelocator or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available near them. For more detailed information on coronavirus in North Dakota, go to www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus.
For more information on coronavirus variants, go to https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant.html. For information on county-level virus transmission risks, go to https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view.