North Dakota adds 116 cases following record-breaking day

BISMARCK — The North Dakota Department of Health on Saturday, July 18, announced another 116 positive cases of COVID-19, with the majority coming from Cass and Burleigh counties.

A day following a record-breaking 124 new cases in a day, another 4,793 tests were completed, yielding a 2.4% positivity rate. Recovered individuals rose by 126, helping the active cases drop from 799, to 788. A total of 4,029 have recovered from the disease.

Of the new reported cases Saturday, 29 came from Cass County, which encompasses the Fargo area, and 23 from Burleigh County, home to Bismarck. In recent weeks, Burleigh county has become the new hotspot in the state, and has 548 total reported cases of COVID-19 as Bismarck extended its state of emergency Friday.

Despite the rise in numbers, both Fargo and the state are moving forward with reopening plans, with Fargo opening libraries, city hall reception and other public government buildings as part of Phase II of reopening.

Gov. Doug Bergum also announced earlier this week the status of K-12 classes, giving control mostly to school boards to make decisions.

No additional deaths were reported, holding the state total at 90 from a disease that has claimed more than 139,000 lives nationwide. Of those deaths in the state, 73 have come from Cass County, however no deaths have been reported from Burleigh County.

In all, 4,907 people in the state have tested positive for COVID-19. Other counties that saw higher reported new cases include Stark County, which added 10 new cases, while another eight cases were reported in Morton and Williams counties.

Thanks to free mass testing events around the state’s biggest metro areas, testing has gone up, yielding more positive results, a trend seen around the country as many southern states have experienced a strong increase in cases.

As is the situation nationwide, the rise in cases seems to be stemming from younger individuals, specifically in the 20-39 age range. In North Dakota, 2,224 of the 4,907 (45%) of the cases have come for this age range, however no deaths have been reported within that age group. Fifty-seven of the state’s 90 deaths have come from individuals 80 years and older.

Of the state’s deaths, 64 have come from individuals within long term care facilities and nursing homes. There are currently 26 active cases inside nursing homes, while 21 of those come from staff.

There have been 251,695 total tests completed in the state, although some people have been tested more than once. Of those tested, 126,608 have come back negative.

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