Governor Doug Burgum is asking North Dakotans to mask up, wash their hands and keep physical distance from others as the state’s COVID-19 numbers continue its upward trajectory.
COVID related deaths will pass 600 this week, and Burgum says he is elevating the risk level of more counties effective tomorrow at 5pm. Billings, Burke, Cavalier, Divide, Griggs, Logan, Oliver, Pierce, Ransom, Renville, Sargent, Sheridan, Slope and Steele Counties are being advanced from “low risk” to “moderate risk.” Barnes, Grant, Kidder, Pembina, Rolette, Stutsman, Traill and Wells Counties are moving from “moderate risk” to “high risk.” No county in the state will be categorized as lower than “moderate risk.”
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, Burgum urges extreme caution as the virus thrives indoors and among close contact with others.
"One of the insidious parts of this is that asymptomatic people, people with no symptoms, can be people that are high spreaders. So as we head into Thanksgiving one thing to identify is, who is your core group, who is your family group, and are they practicing, because you can avoid the quarantine and illness later by being smart - not only yourself and your family, but your core groups you're interacting with."
