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SIOUX FALLS, SD (AP) – With coronavirus cases plaguing the Dakota and elected leaders refusing to intervene by force, the onus of pushing people to take the virus seriously falls increasingly on the families of those who have died.
The ranks of those who know what it means to lose someone they love to COVID-19 are on the rise. North Dakota and South Dakota have the nation’s worst per capita death rate in the past 30 days. Despite advances in treating COVID-19 patients, hundreds more people have died in recent weeks than during any other period – a grim exclamation mark over the virus outbreak that has hit the northern plains and the upper Midwest.
In the Dakotas, the virus has shown little sign of slowing down. As winter approaches and hospitals scramble to make room for COVID-19 patients, medical experts fear virus deaths will continue to rise in an area where people have been slow adopt mitigation measures such as wearing masks. Republican governors in both states have derided government orders to help stop epidemics, relying on ideals of limited government.
The deaths have struck closer and closer to home among many tight-knit communities: a priest from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo; a former school principal in De Smet; an employee of an elementary school in Sioux Falls; a legislative candidate from the state of North Dakota.
“Sometimes I think it’s not true,” said Chris Bjorkman, who lost her husband, John Bjorkman, 66. “Sometimes I think he’s going to walk through the door, but he didn’t. done again, so I keep waiting. “
Bjorkman’s family, who live in De Smet, a town in eastern South Dakota where Laura Ingalls Wilder once had a farm, decided to publicly share their struggle with the virus because he enjoyed serving the community. After a career as a teacher and school administrator, Bjorkman was a well-known figure, known for his fun ways and caring for children.
“I want people to know what COVID can do and how serious it is,” Chris Bjorkman said.
The family experienced the health system crisis when John Bjorkman was airlifted to a Minnesota hospital after his condition worsened. The family posted regular updates to Facebook as he was transferred to an intensive care unit in Sioux Falls and placed on a ventilator.
Doctors don’t know how many more cases like Bjorkman’s they can treat.
“Right now we’re heading in a direction of submerging our healthcare systems and I think it’s closer than what people understand,” said Dr Michael Pietila, a healthcare physician. intensive at the Yankton Medical Clinic.
Dakota’s hospital systems are a complex web of critical access facilities in rural areas and small hospitals that depend on transferring patients to a handful of larger hospitals in the area.
The rush of patients infected with the virus has eased the emotional and physical stress on hospital staff, even as they try to stay free from infections. In an interview with the Associated Press, Pietila was interrupted by pinging an email informing her that a number of hospital workers had tested positive for the virus.
“COVID patients come in and they are sick for a long time – weeks at a time,” he said. “A lot of these COVID patients are not getting any better. There is a lot of grief.
North Dakota has reported that 309 people have died from COVID-19 in the past 30 days, more than all other periods combined. The state has peaked the country in per capita deaths over the past 30 days, with around 41 deaths per 100,000 population, according to data from Johns Hopkins. On Saturday, North Dakota reported 15 more deaths and 1,615 new cases across the state.
South Dakota has reported 252 deaths, a 98% increase over the past 30 days. He had a death rate of about 29 people per 100,000 in the past 30 days, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The state recorded thirteen more deaths on Saturday in addition to 1,337 new cases of COVID-19.
“The devastation I see from people is so disheartening,” said Mike Henriksen, a sports broadcaster from South Dakota who knew five people who died. “If we just took care of each other, we could avoid a lot of this.”
The gravity of the situation in the Dakota has worried medical experts across the country, including Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. He called the Dakota a “uplifting tale” of the consequences of ignoring virus science and public health initiatives.
Jha noted that the area began to experience a steep climb after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, a two-week event that drew nearly 500,000 people. As the number of infections increases, Jha said, it becomes increasingly difficult to control the spread.
“It’s a freight train that goes very fast and it will take a huge effort to stop it,” he said.
Doctors are amazed that they still have a hard time persuading people to take precautions.
“When I go out and don’t see a significant number of people masquerading, it really worries me,” said Dr. Jawad Nazir, clinical professor in the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. “It’s not going to go away.”
During a visit to Bismarck, North Dakota on October 26, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, shook her head at what she found, saying that she saw the use of masks less than anywhere else in the country.
Yet the governors of both states have made it clear that they will not issue masked warrants.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who just won re-election, is embracing what he calls a “slight touch of government” and encouraging people to voluntarily cover their faces. He also refused to apply limits to social gatherings and business occupations.
In South Dakota, Noem cast doubt on the effectiveness of wearing masks in public, saying she would leave it up to the people to decide. She said the virus couldn’t be stopped. The state’s largest medical groups recently launched a campaign to make it clear that masks work.
More and more people who have experienced COVID-19 firsthand, including Republicans, are calling on the government to do more.
The president of the house of North Dakota, Republican of Bismarck, Lawrence Klemin, spent four days by the bedside of his 99-year-old mother, “holding her hand and watching her die” of COVID-19. Klemin said the wearing of the mask should be enforced.
“It was really a difficult thing to go through,” Klemin said of his mother’s death. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone.”
(© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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