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New COVID-19 cases in North Dakota in the past week ticked down both statewide and in Burleigh-Morton counties, though federal health officials said the coronavirus transmission risk in the two counties increased.
There were 1,057 new COVID-19 cases in the state in the past seven days, down slightly from 1,102 the previous week, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services coronavirus dashboard, which is updated every Friday. Last week’s total had been the highest since early September.
The weekly total for Burleigh-Morton was 213 cases, compared with 236 last week and the recent high of 259 five weeks ago.
Burleigh and Morton counties both moved from low risk for coronavirus transmission to medium risk this week, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fourteen other counties were at medium risk, and 34 were at low risk. Three counties — Sioux, Kidder and Stark — were at high risk.
The CDC calculates risk based on COVID-19 case numbers and hospital data. The agency recommends that people in high-risk areas wear a mask indoors in public, and that people in medium-risk areas who have conditions that make them prone to severe illness wear a mask.
COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide over the week totaled 61, down from 81 the previous week. Weekly hospitalizations have been relatively stable since early September, fluctuating between a low of 52 and last week’s high.
Coronavirus patients took up less than 4% of occupied inpatient beds and only about 2% of intensive care unit beds in the state this week.
There have been 278,399 confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Dakota during the pandemic that began in March 2020, and 2,410 deaths.
Federal data shows that 68.9% of North Dakota adults are fully vaccinated, with the rate for all vaccine-eligible people — age 5 and older — at 62.5%. The national averages are 78.6% and 72.9%, respectively.
Nationally, 13.5% of those eligible for an updated bivalent booster dose have received one; in North Dakota it’s 13.1%. The shots provide protection against both the original coronavirus and also the newest omicron variant mutants. They’re available to anyone 5 years and older.
Go to https://www.ndvax.org or https://bit.ly/3N3IMxb or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available. Information on free public testing and free test kits is at health.nd.gov/covidtesting. State Health Department guidance and resources for businesses is at https://bit.ly/3w0DpKj. More detailed pandemic information is at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
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The state Board of Medicine brought five formal disciplinary actions against North Dakota licensed doctors in 2022, including three sanctions that resulted in physicians losing their credentials to practice indefinitely. The number of disciplinary actions in 2022 was six fewer than each of the previous two years. The board reviewed 174 complaints this year, down from 202 last year. North Dakota has 2,043 licensed doctors who live in the state, and 3,657 who are licensed but live out of state. DuPountis did not know if the doctors who lost their licenses in North Dakota had ever actually practiced in the state.
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