The North Dakota Department of Health Thursday morning has confirmed 705 new cases of COVID-19 in the state during testing October 14, bringing the total positives since testing began to 29,653.

The number of currently active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 4,947 as of October 14. That’s up 188 cases from October 13.

Of the new positives, 134 were in Burleigh County, the most in the state for the day, and 67 were in Morton County. Both counties account for 29 percent of the new cases.

Cass County (93 new positives) and Grand Forks County (40 new positives) account for 19 percent of the new cases on October 14.

Williams County had 25, Stark County had 17 and Ward County had 54.

Deaths

Five new deaths were reported:

• A woman in her 70s from Bottineau County with underlying health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s from Cavalier County with underlying health conditions.
• A man in his 70s from Mercer County with underlying health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s from Morton County with underlying health conditions. 
• A man in his 90s from Ward County with underlying health conditions.  

A total of 370 people have died so far in North Dakota as a result of COVID-19.

Of those, 272 are directly attributable to COVID-19 according to official death records. Another 65 deaths are where COVID-19 is not the primary cause of death. A total of 33 death records are pending.

Recoveries and Active Cases

The health department reports 24,336 people are considered recovered from the 29,653 positive cases, an increase of 373 people from October 13.

The number of people reported recovered from COVID-19 on October 14 (373) is lower than the number of new COVID-19 cases reported that day (705).

Of the 4,947 active cases in North Dakota as of October 14, Burleigh County has 880 cases. Cass County has 1,006 active cases, the highest in the state, and Grand Forks County has 317. Morton County has 314 active cases.

Cass and Grand Forks counties together account for 27 percent of all active COVID-19 cases in the state as of October 14.

Burleigh and Morton counties together account for 24 percent of all active COVID-19 cases as of October 14.

Stark County has 241, Ward County has 357 and Williams County has 247 active cases.

As of October 14, one county in North Dakota has no active cases: Slope.

According to state health department numbers (which have been revised several times for specific dates), the statewide active cases first peaked on May 21 at 672 active cases, then began falling until they hit a low of 213 on June 22.

Active cases peaked again on September 5 at 2,393.

According to the numbers, 82 percent of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in North Dakota to date have recovered from the virus.

Hospitalizations

138 people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 as of October 14, up 6 from October 13. A total of 1,192 hospitalizations have been reported since data tracking began.

Total Positives To Date

Cass County (7,011 cases) and Grand Forks County (2,817 cases) account for 33 percent of all positive North Dakota COVID-19 cases to date. Cass County alone accounts for 24 percent of all positive cases.

Burleigh County (5,105 cases) and Morton County (1,796 cases) together account for 23 percent of all positive COVID-19 cases to date.

Williams County has 1,516 total positive cases to date, Stark County has 2,105, Ward County has 1,687 and Mountrail County has 377.

Other county numbers are available here.

Other Data

A total of 264,761 unique individual tests have been conducted to date, with 235,108 coming back negative for COVID-19, or roughly an 11 percent cumulative positive rate.

Since tracking began, COVID-19 cases have been reported at one time or another in all 53 of North Dakota’s counties.

How is COVID-19 being spread in the state? Community spread (13,270 cases), close contact with exposed individuals (8,300 cases) and household contact (4,687 cases) are the top three reported.

While COVID-19 is seen as a virus that mostly impacts older people, in North Dakota, 58 percent of those testing positive for the virus are under 40.

Those in the 20 to 29 year age range have the most positive cases among those tested to date.

According to the data, 34 percent of all North Dakotans have been tested for COVID-19.

The health department is releasing test results daily around 11:00 a.m. The results cover all testing performed the previous day.

You can read more on the daily statistics as well as other COVID-19 information and resources at the North Dakota Department of Health website here.