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North Dakota breaks 2000 active case barrier as COVID surge continues - Grand Forks Herald

The state Department of Health's report released Friday included several pandemic records for North Dakota, including a new high of 2,163 active cases and a record 70 hospitalizations, 17 of which are in intensive care. In the last two weeks North Dakota has seen its most dramatic spike of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. Active cases in the state have more than doubled in that period while new case reports have descended rapidly in other parts of the country.

In apparent response to North Dakota's sudden outbreak, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, will meet with Gov. Doug Burgum and state health officials in Fargo this Saturday, according to a White House press release.

A high volume of new positive cases out of Grand Forks, Burleigh, and Stark counties accounts for the bulk of North Dakota's recent surge. Grand Forks, which encompasses the University of North Dakota, reported 44 new cases on Friday, while Burleigh, which encompasses Bismarck, reported 62 and Stark, which encompasses Dickinson, reported 48.

The new records for active cases in North Dakota have come alongside a significant expansion of testing capacity. The state reported that it administered a pandemic high 7,885 tests since yesterday.

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Over the last week, Grand Forks County has seen an especially steep increase in new cases, a spike that has coincided with a return to campus for UND students. The department of health reported 456 active cases in Grand Forks on Friday, the most of any county in the state. Separately, UND has disclosed 250 self-reported cases of faculty, staff, and students, according to a COVID-19 dashboard that the school debuted last week.

Students also returned to classes at North Dakota State University this week. Cass County has reported 50 new coronavirus cases on Friday, and NDSU independently reported 39 students and two employees who have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks. Unlike out-of-state workers in other parts of the state, out-of-state students who test positive for the virus at UND and NDSU are counted toward the state's total, according to health department spokeswoman Nicole Peske.

A major hotspot also persists in Burleigh County, which reported 454 active cases on Friday for the second most of any county in the state. Combined, Burleigh and the neighboring Morton County, which encompasses Mandan, have 582 active cases. At a meeting of the Burleigh-Morton COVID-19 Task Force on Friday, Bismarck Mayor Steve Bakken encouraged people to wear masks but said that there are no plans for a mask mandate at this time.

Fifty of North Dakota's 55 counties reported at least one active case of the virus on Friday, and while several hotspots have overshadowed case counts in the rest of the state, many counties have seen significant increases over the last two weeks. Ward County, which encompasses Minot, reported 145 active cases on Friday. Williams County, which encompasses Williston, reported 83, and Benson County, which encompasses much of the Spirit Lake Reservation, reported 49.

North Dakota reported no new deaths from the coronavirus on Friday. 139 people have died from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

About 4% of the 7,885 test results announced Friday came back positive, but residents tested for the first time showed positives at a much higher rate of 12.9%.

North Dakota does not regularly report a seven-day rolling average for positivity rate as many other states do, but Forum News Service calculated the rate to be 9.2% for tests taken on previously untested residents. It's the highest such rate this month.

As a public service, we’ve opened this article to everyone regardless of subscription status. If this coverage is important to you, please consider supporting local journalism by clicking on the subscribe button in the upper righthand corner of the homepage.

Readers can reach reporter Adam Willis, a Report for America corps member, at awillis@forumcomm.com.

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North Dakota breaks 2000 active case barrier as COVID surge continues - Grand Forks Herald
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