Media fearmongering - North Dakota records world's highest COVID-19 mortality rate

North Dakota’s coronavirus mortality rate is the highest of any 
U.S. state or country, according to an analysis of data from 
last week conducted by the Federation of American Scientists.

The analysis, first reported by HuffPost, shows that North 
Dakota has a rate of 18.2 deaths per 1 million people. South 
Dakota, meanwhile, has 17.4 deaths per million, the third-worst 
rate in the world. The states have a total population of under 2 
million.

The two states have taken disparate approaches to the rising 
number of cases. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) imposed a new 
series of restrictions on businesses last week and imposed a new 
mandate in certain settings. “Our situation has changed, and we 
must change with it,” he said.

“We believe in North Dakotans. We believe in the power of 
individual responsibility. And we need individual responsibility 
now more than ever to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Burgum added.

However, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), a close ally of 
President Trump’s, has vocally opposed mask mandates and 
questioned the efficacy of masks as a safeguard against the 
spread of the virus.

Modeling by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health 
Metrics and Evaluation projected that continuing under current 
conditions would lead to deaths in both states more than 
doubling by March 1. This would mean topping more than 3,000 
fatalities.

On Monday, North Dakota’s Department of Health reported 1,089 
new positive cases of the virus and a rolling 14-day positivity 
rate of 15.9 percent. South Dakota reported 821 new confirmed 
cases and 18,139 active cases overall.


ND Department of Health
@NDDOH
COVID-19 Daily Report, Nov. 16:
• 15.9% rolling 14-day positivity
• 1,089 new positives
• 7,678 susceptible test encounters
• 332 currently hospitalized (?? 10)
• 10,900 active cases (?? 224)
• 743 total deaths (?? 7)

More detailed information: http://health.nd.gov/covid19dashboard

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/526324-north-dakota-
records-worlds-highest-covid-19-mortality-rate