North Dakota: a shining example of how to not handle coronavirus

A textbook case of what would happen if Trumpism carried the day entirely on COVID policy.

Basically the same thing as what is happening in a lot of European countries right now. It didn't spread much during the summer months, not because they were doing anything right, but because it does not spread well in certain climate conditions. But it was able to remain seeded, so that when heating season hit and people were not taking precautions, it grew exponentially, as it had seeded into parts of every community. It will likely hit herd immunity in a couple of months, but it will be a harsh process, similar to what New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc. went through. They will probably hit a lower deaths per capita simply because the treatments are better. The reason similar things are not happening in places like NYC isn't because they are doing great with preventative measures, it's because 2/3 New Yorkers likely already have immunity to it.

The Governor is letting nurses continue to work if they test positive because they are so short staffed. This is a complete disaster and 100% avoidable. Say whatever you want about IFR and "dying from v dying with" and all the other COVID denier arguments, but there is no argument why we should be letting hospitals fill to capacity and jeopardize the health and safety of everyone in the community just for political points. This is a borderline crime against humanity. Just imagine if the US had successfully controlled the virus and China decided to let it run rampant. People in the US would be up in arms about China's human rights record. But when we do it in the name of preserving our economy and "freedoms", leaders do not even blink when asked about actually doing something to stop the spread of the virus.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/newsmd/coronavirus/6753876-With-North-Dakota-hospitals-at-100-capacity-Burgum-announces-COVID-positive-nurses-can-stay-at-work

Honestly that is just really sad that nurses are having to continue to work if they test positive. Are they confined to the covid sections or elsewhere in the hospital? I suppose the really ill ones will be at home or in the hospital itself but I don't know, that is just sad. It will do nothing for their recovery and it will surely spread it to patients who are covid free on entry as the nurses will be like vectors.

I hope they turn the situation around soon and I hope other states don't get that bad.

Why would anyone lie to hurt Trump? The people have already spoken--he's out! No reason to lie or make anything up at this point.

Huh?

ND's positivity rate is pretty similar to most other northern states, and is actually lower than states like NY, CT, VT, NH, OR, M, MI IL & IA.

Lowest positivity (and this has been the case for WEEKS) is in MS. KY and NC also really good.

Most of the state's deaths are in nursing homes & long term care facilities, which largely managed to get hit back in the spring.

Man Overboard wrote:

Most of the state's deaths are in nursing homes & long term care facilities, which largely managed to get hit back in the spring.

* managed to avoid getting hit back in the spring*

The timeline for Herd immunity would occur well after a vaccine is available and achieveable. Stop spreading lies.

There is something that you are correct about: that European nations got rid of far too many restrictions and mask complacency really fell during the summer and early fall months. Israel was the first country to experience this, hitting their second wave two months ago but has now recovered after intense lockdown. Interestingly, North Dakota's seven day average death rate relative to population is higher than every European country. Only slightly worse than the worst hit Czech Republic and Belgium. The interesting difference is the way in which they are handling this outbreak. European countries along with Israel went into lockdown with the outbreak of cases and deaths and seem to be nearing the peak. North Dakota on the other hand has refused to implement a mask mandate, bars and restaurants continue to run at full capacity, and large gatherings still occur regularly. Their death rate is extremely high and yet people still think it is a hoax. This is not occurring in Europe.

New York got to herd immunity in about 3 months. It can happen if it runs through a population unabated. A vaccine will not be widely available for 6-18 months (longer for countries like New Zealand and Australia who are in a cooperative arrangement with a number of non-contributing countries).

Look at the death curve for New York. That is exhibit A of herd immunity:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/new-york/

No evidence of seroprevalence high enough for herd immunity (even conservative estimates ~30-40%) in NYC or Sweden. Next. plz.

joed1rt wrote:

New York got to herd immunity in about 3 months. It can happen if it runs through a population unabated. A vaccine will not be widely available for 6-18 months (longer for countries like New Zealand and Australia who are in a cooperative arrangement with a number of non-contributing countries).

Look at the death curve for New York. That is exhibit A of herd immunity:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/new-york/

Man Overboard wrote:

Huh?

ND's positivity rate is pretty similar to most other northern states, and is actually lower than states like NY, CT, VT, NH, OR, M, MI IL & IA.

Lowest positivity (and this has been the case for WEEKS) is in MS. KY and NC also really good.

Most of the state's deaths are in nursing homes & long term care facilities, which largely managed to get hit back in the spring.

You are so wrong on this but at least it is very easy to disprove.

7 day positivity rate (as of November 10)

NY: 2.1%

CT: 10.9%

VT: 0.6%

NH: 3.5%

OR: 12.1%

MI: 9.4%

IL: 10.8%

IA: 48.3%!!!

ND: 16.8% (24.6% for people tested for the first time)

SD: 54.0%!!!

You are right that North Dakota is testing very well, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down the spread as positivity rate continues to increase. Still, none of the states you mentioned beside Iowa have positivity rates within 4.5% of North Dakota. Besides for Oregon, none are within 6%. They really are in a completely different stage than the northeast. Iowa and South Dakota are both suffering like North Dakota, and they all seem to have governors that refuse to enforce mask mandates, curb large gatherings, or acknowledge the severity of the virus overall.

coronafreedom wrote:

. . . , positivity rate above 25%. . . .

In fact North Dakota's positivity rate is about 70% over recent days. Most experts would say there is insufficient testing if the rate is above 5%.

2600 bro wrote:

No evidence of seroprevalence high enough for herd immunity (even conservative estimates ~30-40%) in NYC or Sweden.

Next. plz.

joed1rt wrote:

New York got to herd immunity in about 3 months. It can happen if it runs through a population unabated. A vaccine will not be widely available for 6-18 months (longer for countries like New Zealand and Australia who are in a cooperative arrangement with a number of non-contributing countries).

Look at the death curve for New York. That is exhibit A of herd immunity:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/new-york/

Adding to that, the most extreme estimates say it was only at 30-40% around April although most had it around 20-25% at that time. Since then, many people have lost their antibodies, or a significant amount of antibodies to avoid a second infection. New York cases are now starting to increase. Just like Illinois, cases will begin increasing and deaths will take a few weeks to catch up. The issue with Europe and the Americas is that most elected officials and civilians need to see evidence of increased death before considering and sort of lockdown or enhanced restrictions. By the time these deaths increase, cases had been increasing for weeks and deaths will continue to increase. In Asia and Australia/New Zealand, officials & civilians act upon increased cases and positivity rates as a measure to consider lockdowns or enhanced restrictions. The people understand that the increase will eventually lead to an uptick in deaths, so they hit the problem head on.

Have relatives in North Dakota. With close friends in hospitals. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Next leftist conspiracy...

I also have relatives in North Dakota. They say the exact opposite. There is something going on. Next Right wing conspiracy....

Man Overboard wrote:

Huh?

ND's positivity rate is pretty similar to most other northern states, and is actually lower than states like NY, CT, VT, NH, OR, M, MI IL & IA.

Lowest positivity (and this has been the case for WEEKS) is in MS. KY and NC also really good.

Most of the state's deaths are in nursing homes & long term care facilities, which largely managed to get hit back in the spring.

I thought you deniers had a way to shield the vulnerable and keep us young folks out and about?

Oh wait that was always impossible and a red herring.

Biden the Pedo wrote:

Have relatives in North Dakota. With close friends in hospitals. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Next leftist conspiracy...

Read what you just wrote. Relatives with close friends in the hospitals over something that isn't a problem. Seem pretty extraordinary to me.

I live in North Dakota. There's definitely something going on. My (Republican, 2A-loving) doctor friends say you do NOT want to be anywhere near a hospital right now. There's no capacity left.

The governor isn't a right-wing nutjob like in IA and SD. He's been pro-mask and pro-testing and he set up a pretty good contact tracing program.

But he's afraid of his own voters and unwilling to take unpopular moves that would make a difference. Even when cases and deaths have shot up, he won't do anything useful. And now there's too many cases for the contact tracers to follow, and the program has been put on hold.

It is, plain and simple, a failure of leadership. His heart was in the right place. But he was unwilling to pay a political price for doing the right thing.