BISMARCK — The North Dakota Department of Health reported nine new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, Jan. 19, as the fast-spreading omicron variant of the virus continued to push the state to new case testing records.
The Department of Health reported 3,131 new cases on Wednesday, a single-day pandemic high, while the rolling average positivity rate cleared 18%, marking the fifth consecutive day that the metric set a new record.
Following are the COVID-19 case rates, deaths and hospitalizations tracked by the North Dakota Department of Health as of Wednesday. Because all data are preliminary, some numbers and totals may change from one day to the next.
Statewide case rates
- NEW CASES REPORTED: 3,131
- ACTIVE CASES: 8,337
- DAILY POSITIVITY RATE: 19.8%
- 14-DAY ROLLING POSITIVITY RATE: 18.1%
- TOTAL KNOWN CASES THROUGHOUT PANDEMIC: 202,333
- TOTAL RECOVERED THROUGHOUT PANDEMIC: 181,940
North Dakota's active COVID-19 cases climbed more than 800 over the previous day. Active cases have increased more than fivefold since the beginning of the month as the extremely contagious omicron variant of the virus sweeps through the state.
Officials with the state Department of Health
recently estimated
the omicron strain accounts for at least 90% of the COVID-19 cases in the state. The variant has seemed to cause a milder illness for many people than previous strains, but public health leaders said over the weekend "the sheer number of (virus) patients is flooding hospitals and clinics with sick people."
Cass County, which encompasses Fargo, has the most active cases in the state at 2,575. Burleigh County, which includes Bismarck, has 1,254 active cases, while Grand Forks County has 937.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rolette County leads the state in cases per capita by a wide margin; however, the county that includes the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation has done proportionally more testing than any other county.
Hospitalizations, deaths
- ACTIVE HOSPITALIZATIONS: 157
- DEATHS REPORTED TUESDAY: 9
- TOTAL DEATHS: 2,056
The state reported 14 available intensive care beds and 184 regular inpatient beds across the state in the latest reporting.
Vaccinations
- FIRST DOSE ADMINISTERED: 481,235 (61.8% of population)
- FULL VACCINE COVERAGE: 406,065 (53.3% of population)
- BOOSTER DOSES ADMINISTERED: 170,382 (21.9% of population)
The top two figures come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which includes vaccinations performed at federal sites, while the bottom figure comes from the state's vaccine dashboard , which gives a fuller picture of booster and third doses.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Adam Willis, a Report for America corps member, at awillis@forumcomm.com.
