BISMARCK, ND (AP) – The North Dakota Department of Health reported on Saturday an increase in COVID-19-related deaths and hospitalizations as officials deal with a temporary delay in vaccine shipments.
Health officials reported 85 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the state’s total pandemic to 99,228. Two additional deaths have been reported to bring the North Dakota pandemic total to 1,437 deaths with 97,002 recoveries.
The death toll peaked in November last year, with 498 deaths. That number dropped to 282 in December and 76 in January. So far, in February, 11 people have lost their lives due to the coronavirus.
Thirty-nine people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 8 in the intensive care unit, according to the state’s online panel.
North Dakota did not receive some vaccine shipments expected on Tuesday or Thursday due to severe winter in other parts of the country, according to Department of Health spokesman Paul Teeple.
Shipments are expected to resume as early as Monday. They will include doses that the state has not received this week.
More than 400,000 North Dakotans were tested for COVID-19, and more than 177,000 received an initial dose of the vaccine.
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