N.D. – COVID-19 hospitalizations in North Dakota continue to fall, as active cases remain low.
Health officials on Thursday reported just 37 hospitalizations. That’s roughly about one-tenth of the pandemic high in November, when the availability of staffed hospital beds was a concern statewide. That’s no longer the case — there were nearly 400 available staffed regular and intensive care unit beds on Thursday, including nearly 60 in Bismarck.
The Health Department has not reported a coronavirus-related death since Saturday, though spokeswoman Nicole Peske said that could be due to a delay in the state’s monitoring of death records this week. The last coronavirus-related death in Burleigh County was Jan. 26, and the last one in Morton County was Jan. 22.
Health officials on Thursday reported 155 new COVID-19 cases statewide, raising the pandemic total to 98,034, with 95,691 recoveries, 1,422 deaths and 3,797 hospitalizations. Current hospitalizations fell for a fourth straight day, to 37.
The state calculated a daily test positivity rate of 2.25% from 8,295 tests handled Wednesday.
Active cases statewide stood at 921, up slightly. Cases in Burleigh-Morton ticked upward for a fourth straight day, to 181. Both the state and local figures are but fractions of pandemic highs in November.
