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The latest wave driven by the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 has put the state on a steep downward trajectory. North Dakota now has nearly 1,000 more active cases than at the same time last year.
Hospital officials warn that the worsening epidemic could overwhelm the state’s health system if more residents do not adhere to vaccination, mask wear and social distancing.
Statewide case rate
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NEW CASES REPORTED THURSDAY, SEPT. 9: 617
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ACTIVE CASES *: 2 945
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DAILY POSITIVITY RATE: 6.3%
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TOTAL KNOWN CASES DURING THE PANDEMIC: 121,217
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TOTAL RECOVERED DURING THE PANDEMIC: 116,701
* The Ministry of Health often changes the number of active cases after their first notification.
North Dakota’s active cases are up 226 from the previous day as infections soar to a peak that hospital administrators say could reach the state by the end of the month. Active cases have more than quintupled since early August.
Cass County, which includes Fargo, has the state’s best-known active cases with 621. Burleigh County has 487 known cases as of Thursday and Grand Forks County has 268. McKenzie County, which encompasses the town of Watford and has one of the lowest vaccination rates. rate in the state, driven on a per capita basis.
The state’s 14-day rolling average positivity rate is 6.6%.
A vaccination rate of over 93% among nursing home residents has brought the virus under control in long-term care facilities, even as the number of viruses in the state is growing exponentially. The state reported 13 resident cases and 50 staff cases on Thursday. During the pandemic, nursing home residents accounted for nearly 60% of virus-related deaths.
Hospitalizations, death
The state reported four deaths on Thursday, including three in Burleigh County and one in Ward County. The department no longer provides information on the sex or age of deceased residents.
Hospitalizations were up 17 from the previous day, as healthcare providers struggled to keep up with the surge in admissions due to staff shortages. Unlike last fall’s COVID-19 peak, hospitals are treating many non-coronavirus patients in addition to high-maintenance COVID-19 patients.
North Dakota had 15 staffed intensive care beds available statewide as of Wednesday, as well as 177 staffed inpatient beds, according to a health department database. The two hospitals in Bismarck had no intensive care or inpatient beds available, while the three hospitals in Fargo had a combined total of seven intensive care beds and six inpatient beds. Bed capacity figures only reveal capacity at one point in time, and hospitals may actually have more or fewer beds open than when they reported to the Department of Health, the chief of preparation said. in the emergency room, Tim Wiedrich.
The department recently began publishing data on “breakthrough” cases among fully vaccinated residents. During the week of September 5, the state reported that only two of 25 hospitalizations were to fully vaccinated residents.
Vaccinations
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FIRST DOSE ADMINISTERED *: 353,728 (53.3% of the population aged 12 and over)
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COMPLETE VACCINE COVERAGE *: 325,893 (49.1% of the population aged 12 and over)
* These numbers are from the state’s Vaccine Dashboard, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes vaccinations performed at federal sites, reports slightly higher vaccination rates.
North Dakota ranks among the bottom ten states in terms of vaccination rates, but fear of the delta variant has led to a slight increase in the vaccination rate in recent weeks, the vaccination coordinator of the State, Molly Howell.
Even though a person can become infected with COVID-19 after being fully immunized, health officials point out that people with immunity often have less severe symptoms and are less likely to be hospitalized.
More information on vaccines is available at www.health.nd.gov/covidvaccinelocator.
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