There are only 12 intensive care beds available across the state, according to the latest figures reported by the North Dakota Health Department. Most of the 195 open inpatient beds in the state are in rural hospitals, which often do not have the capacity to care for critically ill patients.
Dr. Jeffrey Sheath, Chief of Staff at Trinity Hospital in Minot, put the problem into words.
“We are in a North Dakotans crisis,” Seth said at a news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Sheth said Trinity had no place to admit patients the night before and that major hospitals had turned down Minot Medical Center’s request to transfer patients, citing a lack of their own available beds. The results were patients, with some fatal illnesses, waiting in the emergency room to open the bed.
“Being on capacity is a reality – not just here in minutes but across the state.” “The general public doesn’t realize the circumstances unless one of the patients you or your family relocate to the state has to go through or through a health institution … or be placed on an ER gurney instead of a hospital bed for 24 hours or more.”
Sheth said medical professionals at his hospital told him they had seen “someone suffocating to death every day and sometimes several times a day.” He noted that nurses and doctors are afraid of their own mental health and that of their co-workers because of the dire situation that surrounds them.
The doctor echoed other administrators of the hospital saying that the shortage in medical centers was due to staff shortage rather than lack of physical beds.
Like many other states, North Dakota had a shortage of nurses and other workers before the epidemic, and the issue has only grown in recent months. Trinity spokesperson Karim Tripodina confirmed that about 140 staff members were in quarantine at the hospital by the end of last week, though she could not confirm how many staff members are currently on the trip.
A similarly dire situation is well documented in Bismarck, where two hospitals recently reported having only two available ICU beds and six patient beds between them.
Fargo’s three hospitals are also struggling, with a combined three open ICU beds and eight inpatient beds. Grand Forks’ Ultru Hospital is reported to have one ICU bed and 10 inpatient beds.
D inity. Kashmir Nweigwe, who practices at Trinity, said the stress on hospitals and their staff is mainly due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which has shown no sign of abating. Sheth said that in some days half of Trinity’s patients are positive for the virus, compared to a statewide rate of about 20%.
Nweigwe and Seth have urged residents to take the virus more seriously and take care of basic public health measures such as wearing masks and social distance.
Twelve COVID-19 deaths have been reported in North Dakota
The North Dakota Department of Health on Wednesday, November 4, recorded a record-high number of deaths and active cases of 12 out of 19 COVs.
Died from across the state, including two in Walsh County and one in Barnes, Case, Dickey, Logan, McHenry, Nelson, Pembina, Pierce, Ransom and Towner counties. The victims were all at least 70 years old.
The department says 56 since7 North Dakotons have been victims of the disease since March, and deaths have been rising rapidly in the last three months. The state averages more than eight COVID-19 deaths per day in October and November.
At least 342 deaths in the state have occurred in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Residents, including Trinity Homes in Minot, have more than 15 active cases in seven facilities, including 58 infected residents.
There are now a record 8,571 North Dakotons infected with the virus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North Dakota has the highest number of Covid-19 cases and head-to-head deaths in the country in the past week. South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Montana and Minnesota are seeing a surge in cases across the region, with an increasing number of cases.
The number of residents admitted to the hospital due to illness increased to 220. Initially another 132 patients were hospitalized with some other ailments but they were later tested positive for Covid-19. Eighty-five residents with the virus are intensive care.
The health department on Wednesday registered 111 new cases of COVID-19. The state coun has reported at least one new case in all but seven of the 53 counties.
Cass County, which includes Fergo, reported 262 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. The state’s most populous county has 1,323 infected residents.
Burling County, including Bismarck, reported 134 new cases Wednesday. The county is the second most active case in the state with 1,222 cases. Morton County, which lies west of Burlaig County and includes Mandan, has 41 new cases reported and 431 active cases.
Grand Forks County reported 67 new cases, bringing its total number of active cases to 1,056.
At least 70 new cases have been reported in Ward, Wood and Stutsman counties.
Of the 7,886 residents tested as part of the latest batch, about 14.2% had a positive result, but 23.5% had a test for the first time, with a positive result.
North Dakota does not report a seven-day rolling average for the positivity rate, but is calculated to be 14% for all residents tested by the Forum News Service and 24.4% for tests taken on previously untested residents. Both rates are the highest since the Forum News Service began searching for the figures in early August.
As a public service, we have opened this article for everyone, regardless of subscription status. If this coverage is important to you, please consider supporting local journalism by clicking the subscribe button in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.
