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BISMARCK, ND (AP) – After months of resistance to ordering North Dakota residents to wear masks and limit the size of gatherings, the state’s Republican governor has caved in in an effort to stem a coronavirus outbreak which is among the worst in the United States and threatens to overwhelm state hospitals.
Governor Doug Burgum’s decree on Friday night came as a surprise and just hours before the state registered new daily records of hospitalizations and infections. Throughout the pandemic, the former software chief had left it up to individuals to take personal responsibility for slowing the spread of the virus, imploring the public during his weekly press briefings to wear masks but putting on the emphasis on a “light touch” of government.
But in a video message announcing his new restrictions, which took effect on Saturday and will remain in effect until December 13, a grim Burgum said: “Our situation has changed and we must change with it.
In a press release, he said the state’s doctors and nurses “need our help, and they need it now.”
After a spring in which North Dakota had relatively few cases of COVID-19, the disease spread rapidly over the summer and has only gained momentum since. As of Saturday, there were just 18 free beds in intensive care units and 178 non-ICU beds in state hospitals.
Medical professionals and some community leaders have been advocating with Burgum for months to impose such restrictions. During a visit to Bismarck last month, Dr. Deborah Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, described the state’s use of the mask and COVID-19 protocols as the worst she have seen. all over the country.
Rachel Heintz, who works as an emergency room nurse at a hospital in Bismarck, said on Saturday she was relieved that a mask order had been issued.
“It’s about time,” she said.
Nurses and other medical professionals have been frustrated that their calls for a mask warrant have been ignored, likely leading to an increase in cases, deaths, heartache and an overwhelming burden on hospital workers, he said. she declared.
“Nurses are used to carrying a heavy load, but when you see us breaking down you know how much it takes us,” she says. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
Under the ordinance, people across the state must wear face masks inside businesses and indoor public places, as well as outdoor public places where physical distancing is not possible. It includes exceptions for children under 5, people with a health problem or medical or mental disability that makes wearing a mask unreasonable, and religious services.
Failure to do so carries a penalty of up to $ 1,000, although it is not clear how the order will be enforced.
Grand Forks Police Sgt. Barb McLeod said the department is reviewing the order.
“We will focus on education and we will try very hard not to press charges,” she said.
Officers can answer a call if someone reports that another person is not wearing a face mask, she said.
“We will try to educate them and explain to them the new rules that we all have to follow,” she said. “I hope that settles the matter. This is our hope. “
Burgum also ordered all bars and restaurants to limit capacity to 50%, and he closed all in-person services between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Large rooms are also limited to 25% of their capacity.
Not everyone will obey the new order.
Rick Becker, a Republican state official who is a plastic surgeon and owns two bars in downtown Bismarck, said on Saturday that he will refuse to wear a mask and suspect that many others in the ‘Conservative state will protest against the “draconian” directive.
“The electorate is going to be divided,” Becker said. “People who want the government to take care of them will be happy.”
Eating in a restaurant where seating capacity is not reduced and tables are not spaced at least six feet apart is in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “most risk” category of contracting COVID- 19.
Becker, however, said he thought the order to close bars at 10 p.m. was foolish.
“Where’s the data that shows COVID comes out the most after 10 a.m.?” he said.
Championship playoff contests and performance events sponsored by the North Dakota High School Activities Association during the month of November may continue under the order. But all high school winter sports and other kindergarten to grade 12 extracurricular activities are suspended until December 14.
Burgum said the break in activities will help keep schools open for in-person teaching.
The order came after the state hit a grim new milestone on Friday, as the death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed the 700 mark, according to state health data. Nineteen more deaths were added on Saturday, bringing the state’s death toll to 726. More than half of the deaths have occurred in recent weeks.
There were 2,373 new cases per 100,000 people in North Dakota over the past two weeks, which was the highest rate in the country, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
Health officials also recorded a new daily high of 2,278 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the statewide total since the start of the pandemic to nearly 63,000. The number of patients hospitalized for COVID- 19 increased by 12 on Saturday, reaching a record 305.
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