Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
On Wednesday, June 10, the Eddy County Fairgrounds hosted the first community-wide testing event for COVID-19 in Eddy County. There were 141 individuals tested that windy afternoon, according to Eddy County Public Health Nurse Danette Schmid, and all test results came back negative. Schmid said other than the struggle with test kits in the wind, the event went very smoothly and successfully. Some people arrived an hour before the testing began at 3 p.m.
Foster County Public Health and Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd assisted with the event, and a total of 20 people administered the testing. Schmid said that the event was a great test of local resources and response, as now they are confident they can organize and implement a similar testing event in 24-48 hours in the future should Eddy County have the need to do so.
Eddy County has seen five positive cases since March, and as of press time Wednesday just one person had yet to recover. The individual is isolating at home, Schmid said. A total of 449 Eddy County residents have been tested for COVID-19 since the state began testing, nearly 20% of the counties population. Just 1% of those have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd held its fourth round of facility-wide testing Wednesday, and assuming all negative results the facility planned to enter Phase 2 of its reopening plan by Friday. In Phase 2 relatives would be allowed to visit residents inside the facility one at a time. Visitation has occurred outdoors for the past two weeks, as well as communal dining and small group activities.
Meanwhile, on the Spirit Lake Reservation, several testing events have been held. At lhe most recent, held Thursday, June 11 at the Spirit Lake Casino, 504 people were tested with no positive results. Only three positive cases have been reported in Benson County as of Wednesday.
Across the state, active case numbers have fallen from a peak of 659 on May 23 to 310 on Wednesday. Active cases have stayed in the 300s daily in June, a level the state hadn't seen since mid-April. Seventy-four North Dakotans who tested positive for coronavirus have died.
All is not as well elsewhere in the country, however. As Governor Burgum said in his press conference Tuesday, "The set of cards that North Dakota holds right now, I don't think we'd want to trade 'em with anybody else in the country." U.S. case numbers climbed above two million and several states reported surges in new cases this past week after ramping up testing.
Worldwide case numbers are now above eight million, and 448,511 people had reportedly died with COVID-19 as of June 17.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Canada had agreed to extend their agreement to close the border until July 21. The border between the two countries had been expected to reopen June 21.
"This is a measure that will protect people on both sides of the border as we continue to fight COVID-19," Trudeau said during his daily briefing on the pandemic response.
