Coronavirus cases continue upward trend

Eddy County is in the top five counties for positive COVID-19 cases per capita in the state. As of Tuesday, a total of 165 residents had tested positive for the virus since March. An outbreak in Towner County, for which Cando is the county seat, put them in the top spot with 37 active cases (169 cases per 10,000). Our neighbors to the east in Nelson County had 150 cases per 10,000, and our southern neighbor Foster County had 47 active cases, or 146 per 10,000. LaMoure and Eddy counties were tied for fourth highest with 130 cases per 10,000. Eddy County had 30 active cases as of Tuesday.

Testing continues to accelerate statewide, with daily testing numbers averaging 7,352 over the past 14 days. Eddy County Public Health tested 55 people on Tuesday, Oct. 20, compared to 31 tests the prior week. The testing site has been moved to the north entrance of the Brown Memorial so tests can be conducted indoors and out of the cold. The schedule will change next week, as Tuesday, Nov. 3 is Election Day. Eddy County Public Health Nurse Danette Schmid said they planned to move the weekly testing to Wednesday, Nov. 4, and may consider a second testing event each week to fulfill the needs. She said many of the people they see are either close contacts to residents who have tested positive or are ill themselves. As of Tuesday, 987 Eddy County residents had been tested at least once for the virus since March, and a total of 165 of them have tested positive.

Aggressive testing is just one component of the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) plans to limit the virus. In addition, contact tracing serves as an effective way to limit exposure among individuals.

NDDoH issued a statement Tuesday about contract tracing delays. Schmid said they have hit the tipping point of contact tracing efforts. It was taking 36-48 hours to begin a case investigation after notification of a positive case, and now it may take up to 72 hours to get contact tracing efforts underway.

“There is only so much that can be done at a given time,” Schmid said Tuesday.

The delay in contact tracing has been exacerbated by the growing number of positive cases. Daily case numbers in North Dakota exceeded 1,000 for the first time on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and the number of active cases sailed past the 6,000 point that day.

The virus continues to adversely impact older people. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 totaled 209 Tuesday, with 181 of those individuals, or nearly 87%, over the age of 60.

October is already the deadliest month for COVID-19 in North Dakota, with 142 deaths reported from Oct. 1 - 19 compared to 122 in all of September and 44 in May. An astounding 92% of deaths have occurred in residents over age 60 (380 of 412), compared to 32 deaths among residents aged 0-59.

A bit of good news came from the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd Wednesday. The county’s only long term care facility reported that no residents, tenants or staff had tested positive for the virus Monday. Because research has shown that residents are at higher risk for exposure while eating, visitors are not able to eat with the residents at this time. Visitors who regularly visit, have exposure risks, or are feeling sick are asked to get routinely tested through Eddy County Public Health. All visitors are screened at the front entrance, asked to wear a clean mask, observe social distancing, and sanitize their hands when they enter and exit the facility.

So far, local officials have not discussed implementing a mask mandate. However, some members of the community COVID-19 response team did indicate a desire to advocate for a mask mandate at the local level during their Tuesday teleconference. Central Prairie Social Services Director Teresa Kluth said the Wells County Commission had mandated masks for all county employees at work except when they are in their offices alone. The state’s largest cities continued discussions this past week, with Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney issuing a mask mandate for that city by executive order. The Minot City Council mandated masks in the Magic City on a 5-2 vote last week. So far there is no penalty for non-compliance in either place, officials say. Rather, they are relying on citizens to comply with their mandates for the health and safety of all residents.

Beyond masks, the COVID-19 response team discussed another key element of slowing the spread, the 14 day quarantine recommendation for household and close contacts of individuals who test positive.

“It’s not going that well,” Schmid said. “People don’t want to be limited to those activities in which we say they should be doing right now.” Aside from mask wearing, social distancing and good hygiene, quarantine has become a hallmark of the state’s strategy to slow the spread of the virus.

Another issue with quarantine is the challenge of getting residents the food, medication and supplies they need during that time. Schmid said that Eddy County Public Health has reached out to individuals as part of their contact tracing efforts and offered resources, information and assistance as needed. She noted that Central Pharmacy in New Rockford offers in-town delivery and mail-out services for their customers. Miller’s Fresh Foods also offers delivery services and curbside pickup.

Eddy County remains in the yellow risk level, which refers to “moderate risk” of coronavirus spread. With Halloween coming up this weekend, residents are encouraged to safely navigate holiday events being mindful of the virus’ prevalence in our communities. At minimum, residents are asked to stay home if they feel sick, practice good hygiene and keep a safe distance from others. Masks are encouraged, especially in indoor spaces and other places where social distancing is not possible.

Globally, the “fall surge” some experts predicted is underway, with seven countries reporting at least 100,000 new cases in the past week: United States, Argentina, Brazil, Britain, France, India and Russia. The global case count pushed past 40.8 million Tuesday, with 8.3 million cases reported in the U.S. alone. As of Wednesday morning, 1,125,700 people worldwide had died with COVID-19.