Bismarck  (CSi)  Governor Doug Burgum held his daily news briefing on Wednesday afternoon, at the state capital.  Comments start 14 minutes in.

Issued Wed. Apr 22, 2020

Positive COVID-19 Test Results
Results listed are from the previous day.

INDIVIDUALS WHO DIED WITH COVID

  • Man in his 40s from Cass County with underlying health conditions.

 

COUNTIES WITH POSITIVE CASES

  • Burleigh County – 2
  • Cass County – 18
  • Grand Forks County – 11
  • Richland County – 1
  • Stark County – 1
  • Ward County – 1
  • Wells County – 1

**Please note: After investigation, the case reported yesterday from Sioux County was determined to be from Cass County.

 

BY THE NUMBERS

15,589 – Total Tested (+602 individuals from yesterday)

14,910 – Negative (+567 individuals from yesterday)

679 – Positive (+35 individuals from yesterday)

62 – Hospitalized (+8 individuals from yesterday)

23 – Currently Hospitalized (+6 individuals from yesterday)

436-  Active Cases

229 – Recovered (+15 individuals from yesterday)

14 – Death (+1 individual from yesterday)

For descriptions of these categories, visit the NDDoH dashboard.

For the most updated and timely information and updates related to COVID-19, visit the NDDoH website at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus, follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

Burgum said North Dakota has plenty of hospital beds available as of Wednesday.

 

He thanked business for complying with the personal care business closures, concerning social distancing, and gatherings of not more than 10 in one location.

 

With North Dakota Smart Restart, Burgum said eight items are in the step by step plan, including managing lives and livelihoods, will determine the reopening.

 

North Dakota Army National Guard General Alan Dohrman spoke about testing and contact tracing, that go hand and hand, in the best possible method.

He indicated an increased testing capacity, in the state and testing at large businesses, and their contacts.

Long term care facilities are being targeted, and their most vulnerable residents.

He said the state lab has added two techs, and six lab testing units.  A mobile lab has also been added.  A rapid test that shows results in 15 minutes are now available.

Contact tracing is ramping up in the state.

The state continues to partner with tribal nations, conducting successful test collection events at both MHA Nation and Spirit Lake Nation which resulted in roughly 700 individuals being tested, including 290 at Spirit Lake on Tuesday.

Dohrman added that addition, the state is focusing on long-term care facilities to protect the most vulnerable citizens.  Representatives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also are working with the NDDoH Division of Disease Control to prioritize and outline surveillance test collection strategies.

Burgum said the android phone has been added to the CARE-19 contact tracing service.

With jobless claims 1150 claims were filed, Tuesday, 401 pandemic claims of both types,

Bring the total claims since March 16, 2020 to 59,263.

Employee Portrait of Andrea Travnicek – Governor’s Office

Burgum Wednesday appointed Andrea Travnicek to lead the North Dakota Department of Parks and Recreation, citing her extensive leadership experience and long history of resource management at the local, state and federal levels.

Travnicek returns to North Dakota after nearly three years of service in top leadership positions at the U.S. Department of the Interior, where she most recently served as deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management. Travnicek also served as Interior’s principal deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, overseeing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Park Service. Prior to that, she served as a senior policy advisor for natural resources in the North Dakota Governor’s Office from 2010 to 2016 under then-Gov. John Hoeven and then-Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

With behaviorhealth, law enforcement continues to see an increase in opioid overdoses.

He said in Minot there have been six overdose deaths related to fentanyl.

Those struggling with opioid addictions can access the state behavioral health website, including obtaining Narcan kits.

Burgum pointed out that the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is offering an online hunter education course for students who will turn at least age 12 on or before Dec. 31,

Most in-person hunter education classes were canceled this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, Game and Fish needed to find a way to get students certified for hunter education this year.

The online course is available to students who were already enrolled in classes that were canceled, and also to qualifying students who were not previously enrolled in a class. A 25% discount is being offered for taking the online course.

Students who were already enrolled in a 2020 class that was canceled do not have to register with Game and Fish again. They will automatically receive an email with instructions to start the online course.

Prospective students who had not previously registered, can sign up through the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov

In other state news….

Representatives from the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services (NDDES) this week conducted an informational briefing detailing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) Program. The federal aid was made available after North Dakota was approved April 1 for a major presidential disaster declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through the PA Program, FEMA can reimburse local governments, states, tribes and certain private non-profits for up to 75 percent of their eligible costs related to emergency protective measures required for the response and prevention of COVID-19. North Dakota’s disaster declaration request, which was submitted by Gov. Doug Burgum on March 29, also asked for additional FEMA programs to be opened. This included all Individual Assistance Programs and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, however, only the PA Program is currently available at this time.

Some of the eligible COVID-19 emergency protective measures the PA Program can reimburse for include: emergency operation center expenses; trainings; disinfection of eligible public facilities; emergency medical care; medical sheltering; the purchase and distribution of food, water, ice, medicine and other consumable supplies; the movement of supplies; security and law enforcement and communications of general health and safety information to the public.

For eligible applicants to receive reimbursement through the PA Program, they first need to register for access into the FEMA Grants Portal located at https://grantee.fema.gov. Once registered, applicants can submit their COVID-19 related expenses through this online mechanism where they later will be reviewed and potentially approved by FEMA and NDDES.