Active cases of COVID-19 continue to fall in North Dakota, but coronavirus-related hospitalizations continue to rise.
The Department of Health on Saturday reported 7,351 active cases, down 874 from the previous day. Active cases over the past week have dropped by more than one-fourth. They’ve dropped a similar percentage in Burleigh and Morton counties, and on Saturday were at 1,535.
But while active cases statewide have dropped for six straight days, hospitalizations have risen for three straight days, and on Saturday stood at 317. Hospitals across the state had 15 staffed intensive care unit beds and 278 non-ICU beds available, according to the most recent state data. In Bismarck, Sanford Health and CHI St. Alexius Health each had one ICU bed open. Sanford had eight staffed non-ICU beds and CHI St. Alexius had 11.
Health officials reported the deaths of 13 more people with COVID-19, ranging in age from their 40s to their 90s, in the counties of Benson, Cass, Foster, Grand Forks, LaMoure, McIntosh, McLean, Walsh and Ward. Three new deaths in Ward, home to Minot, brought to 75 the number of deaths reported in the county in November.
The month also has been the highest for deaths statewide, with 349, more than one-third of North Dakota’s pandemic total of 915.
There have been 77,935 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the state since the onset of the pandemic in mid-March, including 750 new cases reported Saturday. A total of 69,669 people are listed by the state as having recovered, and 2,649 have been hospitalized at some point.
Discussion about this post