The COVID-19 pandemic in North Dakota is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state reported its first case on March 11, 2020.
Out of the 49 counties with positive cases of COVID-19 in North Dakota, Burleigh and Cass lead the state for highest number of positive COVID-19 cases, with Burleigh totaling 13,695 and Cass county with 19,969. In October 2020, North Dakota had the highest rate of COVID-19 cases of any U.S. state or nation in the world, although this had been attributed in part to extensive testing.
North Dakota had early success in 2021 administering COVID-19 shots, but as of September 4, North Dakota ranked 45th among the 50 U.S. states in the proportion of fully vaccinated residents.
Timeline
March 2020 On March 11, the state's first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Ward County. Governor Doug Burgum declared a state of emergency on March 13, stating that the government would follow guidance issued by the CDC, and did not have plans to immediately close schools. That day, the Standing Rock Sioux and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa tribes began restricting access to their reservations. On March 15, Governor Burgum announced that K-12 schools would be closed for at least a week from March 16–20 as a cautionary measure.
On March 17, the state government confirmed four more cases, including two in Burleigh County, one in Cass County, and one in Ward County, for a total of five in the state. All five were people who had recently traveled outside North Dakota. On March 18, the state confirmed two new COVID-19 cases had emerged from Morton County which were the first confirmed cases of community spread in the state. On March 19, eight new cases were confirmed in Burleigh and Morton counties. On March 20, 11 new cases were confirmed in Ramsey, Morton, Burleigh, and Pierce counties.
On March 21, Burgum signed an executive order to allow COVID-19 testing to be conducted at pharmacies, and to provide emergency refills of prescriptions. On March 25, an executive order was issued to expand worker's compensation coverage to first responders and health care providers who contract COVID-19. Burgum announced that the state received a total of 11,700 unemployment claims in the past week.
On March 27, North Dakota reported its first death related to COVID-19, involving a man in his 90's from Cass County with underlying health conditions. On March 29, Governor Burgum requested a major disaster declaration from the federal government.
April–July 2020 By April 1, the state had recorded 159 positive cases and three deaths in total. On April 3, the state received $34 million in funding from the Federal Transit Administration to ensure that state transportation would continue to function safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. North Dakota received $18 million from the CARES Act with cities like Fargo getting $8 million, Bismarck getting $3.7 million, and Grand Forks receiving $3.4 million. Tribes also received grant funding with Standing Rock obtaining $369,000 and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa receiving $191,000. Burgum also announced a pilot program for drive-through testing.
On April 6, the state reported its fourth death. By April 9, this had increased to six. On April 18, North Dakota reported 90 new cases, with 68 in Grand Forks; an outbreak had been confirmed at the LM Wind Power manufacturing plant in Grand Forks. On April 28, Governor Burgum announced that the state would begin to lift some of the business closures it had implemented in March, under its "Smart Restart" system.
On May 29, Governor Burgum announced that the state had reached the "Low" (green) tier according to the Smart Restart guidance, allowing it to further loosen some of the capacity restrictions placed on reopened businesses via the Smart Restart guidance. Burgum cited a high testing rate and low number of active cases. On June 16, Governor Burgum stated that North Dakota's testing capacity had outgrown demand for testing. On June 18, North Dakota recorded its 75th COVID-19 death, however overall active cases in the state continued trending downwards.
On June 23, Governor Burgum stated that several counties were close to reaching the lowest "New normal" (blue) level on the Smart Restart system, noting the less than one percent positivity rate of COVID-19 in North Dakota.
By July 28, a McKenzie county woman in her 20s marked the 100th cumulative COVID-19 death in North Dakota. On July 30, the Spirit Lake reservation began to mandate the wearing of face masks in public.
August 2020 On August 19, it was announced that interim state health officer Andrew Stahl (who had succeeded Mylynn Tufte following her May 27 departure) would resign. This came amid disagreements with the office of the Governor over aspects of North Dakota's COVID-19 response, including the risk level system and mandating face masks.
On August 20, the Bismarck Police Department cancelled the Tri-City Community Picnic and a Citizen's Police Academy event due to rising COVID-19 cases in the area. On August 24, North Dakota crossed 10,000 cumulative positive cases of coronavirus. 58 percent of those testing positive for COVID-19 were under 40 years of age.
September 2020 By the beginning of September, 1 out of every 4 North Dakotans had been tested for COVID-19. The positivity rate for the virus was the highest among persons that were 20 to 29 years of age.
On September 3, North Dakota held onto the most COVID-19 cases per capita in the United States for the past two weeks, according to figures by Johns Hopkins University Center. On September 4, following the recommendation from the Burleigh-Morton COVID-19 task force, local governments agreed to hold discussions on possible mask mandates following the jump in cases in the counties.
By September 5, North Dakota passed 13,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19. On September 8, the state had 2,220 active cases of the virus and passed 14,000 cumulative cases. By September 12, the state had a positivity rate of 7 percent and passed 15,000 cumulative cases of the virus. Following promised discussions from September 4, Morton County soundly rejected a mask mandate, due to opposition from residents, despite the county reporting the highest number of active cases of COVID-19 in the state.
On September 15, North Dakota passed 16,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19 with over 13,000 recovering. On September 16, Mayor Bakken of Bismarck signed an extension of its coronavirus emergency declaration until mid October. An Associated Press report released found that a statewide educational campaign on the importance of masks and social distancing had not begun, despite receiving federal funds.
By September 18, North Dakota passed 17,000 cumulative cases of the virus and over 700 total hospitalizations, as well as passing 14,000 recoveries. Most of the cases were being reported in long-term care facilities, where the state government has called for additional volunteer staffing to handle surge.
On September 19, active cases in the state surpassed 3,000 for the first time. The Department of Health began a saliva testing pilot program with the University of North Dakota, Bismarck State College, and Fargo Public Health.
On September 23, deaths from COVID-19 in North Dakota exceeded 200. Governor Burgum raised the Smart Restart risk levels for a dozen counties throughout the state effective September 25. Burgum also announced that the state would prioritize testing and contact tracing involving long-term care facilities. Chris Jones, director of the Department of Human Services stated more than half the deaths reported in the state were coming from long-term care facilities.
By September 24, cumulative cases passed 19,000. On September 25, total recoveries passed 16,000. The interim State health officer Paul Mariani resigned after serving less than a month on the position, due to Governor Burgum rescinding a requirement for self-isolation after returning from travel, and breaking away from guidelines recommended by the CDC. Two area hospitals in Bismarck warned of nearing capacity and shortage of resources due to the further rise in cases.
By September 28, total recoveries passed 17,000. North Dakota had set a record high for active cases every day since September 21, with active cases rising from around 100 cases to 3,766. The spike is suspected to have been contributed in part by hundreds of thousands attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota from early August. On September 29, COVID-19 cases in the state passed 21,000. Grant County had its first confirmed death. It was noted by Bloomberg that the surge of cases in North Dakota was similar to that of Florida's from July.
Over the past month, North Dakota saw an 80 percent increase in COVID-19 cases as well as a doubling of the previous death toll record. Since June the state has seen a 600 percent increase in cases. Joshua Wynne, of the University of North Dakota, stated that recent trends were "disturbing and headed in the wrong direction".
October 2020
By October 2, North Dakota passed 900 cumulative hospitalizations. On October 3, North Dakota exceeded 23,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. On October 6, cumulative deaths passed 300 after a reported 24 new deaths, however not all on same day due to lag in information reporting by the health department. The state also reported the youngest fatality, a 17-year-old Fort Berthold resident with underlying condition.
By October 10, the state passed 22,000 total recoveries. On October 11, North Dakota passed 27,000 cases. Renane Moch, the director of Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, warned of the strain on the hospital system, with 241 inpatient and 32 ICU beds being available as of October 13 throughout the state.
On October 14, Governor Burgum announced that the Smart Restart plan would be updated effective October 16, with tightened restrictions on gatherings in higher risk areas. In addition, 16 counties would be raised to High (orange) on the Smart Restart system. On October 16, North Dakota broke 30,000 cumulative cases and 5,000 active cases throughout the state. State health officials submitted a first draft of a vaccine plan to the CDC, with a main goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the population and prioritizing vulnerable groups. On October 17, the state exceeded 400 deaths. By October 19, the state passed 26,000 recoveries and 32,000 cases of COVID-19, with more than one-third of active cases at 5,837 being in Burleigh and Cass counties.
On October 20, North Dakota logged over 1,000 new cases, bringing its overall total above 33,000. The daily positivity rate listed by state officials was at 19.68%. To alleviate a backlog in notifying those who had tested positive, it was announced that part of the North Dakota National Guard's resources would be shifted away from contact tracing, and that those who test positive would be instructed to identify and notify close contacts themselves. Over the previous week, North Dakota led the country in new cases and deaths per-capita; the Financial Times projected that North Dakota would have the most cases per-million residents worldwide if it were its own country.
On October 23, the state exceeded 29,000 recoveries. The state began to obtain 30,000 rapid testing kits. Governor Burgum announced that the state would refrain from reporting persons who had underlying conditions that died of COVID-19, as to not give residents "a false sense of security surrounding their risk." With a December 30 deadline to spend the funds distributed to North Dakota by the CARES Act, the state energy commission voted in favor of diverting $16 million to fund the oil industry with hydraulic fracturing operations, with the Legislative body expecting to take a final vote the following week.