Wednesday Morning C-19 Update

NOTE - Below is a radio-friendly notepad used on the Need To Know Morning Show on AM1100 The Flag WZFG.  Spelling, punctuation, etc are not edited. 

HERE ARE THE KEY NUMBERS THIS MORNING.....

IN NORTH DAKOTA THE PERCENT POSITIVE TEST RATE CONTINUES TO RUN RELATIVELY LOW….TUESDAY - 2.4 PERCENT (41 POSITIVE OUT OF 1,667 TESTS).....NO NEW DEATHS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS AND AND HOSPITALIZED COUNT IS UNCHANGED AT 31....CASS COUNTY HAD 13 OF THE 41 POSITIVE TESTS

IN MINNESOTA, NUMBERS ARE ON THE RISE FUELED BY MEAT PLANT AND NURSING HOME SPREADS…....617 POSITIVES OUT OF 2,068 TESTS...THAT'S 29.8 PERCENT - THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY YET..... 27 DEATHS  - THAT'S ABOVE THE 7 AND 14 DAY AVERAGES.......434 ARE HOSPITALIZED -- UP ABOUT 40 FROM THE DAY BEFORE - 182 IN ICU...THOSE NUMBERS ARE ABOVE THE 14 DAY AVERAGE...IN CLAY COUNTY, ONE MORE DEATH TUESDAY, BRINGING THE TOTAL TO 14….COUNTY HEALTH DIRECTOR KATHY MCKAY TELLS WZFG RADIO THAT ALL 14 VICTIMS HAD UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS....

IN SOUTH DAKOTA, 24 HAVE DIED, 3 MORE REPORTED TUESDAY --   THOSE NEW CASES IN THE LAST 3 WEEKS ARE STARTING TO SHOW UP IN THE DEATH COUNT......75 ARE CURRENTLY HOSPITALIZED, THAT'S UP SIX FROM THE DAY BEFORE….

ACROSS THE U-S....22-HUNDRED REPORTED DEAD TUESDAY, RIGHT AT THE 7 AND 14 DAY AVERAGE......NEW CASES ARE DOWN, ABOUT 23-THOUSAND INSTEAD OF THE 2 WEEK AVERAGE OF 28-THOUSAND....ABOUT 16-THOUSAND ARE HOSPITALIZED, AND THAT IS ONE OF THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAYS YET....MORE THAN 72-THOUSAND HAVE DIED NATIONWIDE.

HERE ARE YOUR WEDNESDAY MORNING HEADLINES -

THE ROSEAU CITY COUNCIL HAS APPROVED A RESOLUTION ASKING MN GOVERNOR TIM WALZ TO LIFE BUSINESS RESTRICTIONS THAT ARE IN PLACE STATEWIDE DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS...MAYOR JEFF PELOWSKI SAYS IT MAKES NO SENSE IN THEIR COUNTY WHERE THERE IS ALMOST NO INSTANCE OF THE VIRUS, TO HAVE HARDWARE STORES OPEN BUT CLOTHING STORES CLOSED...

MN GOVERNOR TIM WALZ ANNOUNCED TUESDAY THAT hospitals, CLINICS, DENTISTS AND VETS CAN RESUME Elective procedures next week if they put social distancing plans in place .....HE SAYS THE STATE HAS STOCKPILED ENOUGH MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO GET IN FOR THE PROCEDURES THEY NEED.....SOT

SEVERAL HOSPITAL EXECUTIVES APPLAUDED THE MOVE, BUT THE MN NURSES ASSOCIATION SAYS IT COULD MEAN A RUN ON MASKS AND SUPPLIES THAT WILL LEAVE THEM AT RISK....

TUESDAYS RECORD 617 POSITIVES IN MN COMES LARGELY FROM TESTING IN HIGH RISK AREAS....One-fourth of the cases occurred in five counties where food processing plants have outbreaks. Lab-confirmed cases reached 1,069 in Nobles County, where an outbreak forced the closure of the JBS pork plant in Worthington. Cases reached 815 in Stearns County, where two food processing plants reported multiple lab-confirmed infections. Only Hennepin County has a higher case count in Minnesota, with 2,519.

A GRAND FORKS MAN SAYS HE WAS FIRED FOR GOING TO THE HOSPITAL AND SEEKING TREATMENT AFTER COMING DOWN WITH THE VIRUS...TRISTAN ROWAN WAS WORKING AT THE SOUTH WASHINGTON STREET RESTAURANT WHEN HE FELL ILL WITH A FEVER OF 101.3 DEGREES AND DIFFICULTY BREATHING….BUT HE WAS TOLD HE COULDN’T LEAVE UNTIL HE FOUND SOMEONE TO FILL HIS SHIFT…He was subsequently fired by the general manager WHEN HE WENT TO ALTRU HOSPITAL AND FOUND HE DID HAVE THE VIRUS….Grand Forks Public Health CONFIRMS THAT THE INCIDENT IS BEING INVESTIGATED….Repeated attempts to contact the General Manager at Taco Bell have been unsuccessful.

THE GF HERALD REPORTS THAT A Grand Forks firefighter has been placed in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. THE 47TH AVENUE SOUTH Fire Station 5, has been closed for disinfecting, and two additional firefighters have been quarantined ….The firefighter last worked a ON Thursday and Grand Forks Fire Chief Gary Lorenz said he considers community spread unlikely since firefighters wear personal protective gear on all calls.

PRESIDENT TRUMP TRAVELED TO ARIZONA TUESDAY, THE FIRST TRIP OUT TO SEE THE COUNTRY SINCE THE PANDEMIC BROKE......HE SAYS HE'S GETTING SOME CRITICISM FOR WINDING DOWN THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE, AND PREVENTING DR. ANTHONY FAUCI TO APPEAR BEFORE A HOUSE INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE......SOT

THE PRESIDENT SAYS DR'S BIRX AND FAUCI WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY INVOLVED WITH WHITE HOUSE GUIDANCE GOING FORWARD….

THE ECONOMIC WORST IS STILL AHEAD IN MN AND ND....THIS ACCORDING TO PAIR OF FORECASTS.....IN ST. PAUL, A projected budget surplus in Minnesota has evaporated due to the pandemic and the state now faces a $2.4 billion deficit in the current budget.....The new figures represented a nearly $3.6 billion swing compared to the rosier economic forecast put out months earlier....

MEANWHILE AN NDSU REPORT SHOWS Total wages and salaries in North Dakota are predicted to drop by 20-60%, the labor force will decrease by 7.5-15%, the unemployment rate could reach 20%, and tax collections may fall by more than half....

The state of North Dakota IS CHANGING the way it categorizes COVID-19 deaths ...The North Dakota Health Department deems a COVID-19 death as any individual who 'died from any cause while infected with COVID-19., BUT NOW officials have now broken it down  into those who died from coronavirus and those who died with it....CURRENTLY THE TOTAL IS LISTED AT 25 DEATHS, BUT VALLEY NEWS LIVE REPORTS THAT 17 deaths are solely due to the virus, two were caused by something other than COVID-19, and the other six death records are still pending for an official cause.

The attorneys general for 11 Midwestern states - INCLUDING MN AND ND, ARE URGING the Justice Department to pursue a federal investigation into PRICE FIXING BY THE NATION'S LARGEST MEAT PACKERS…In a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, the state attorneys general noted  the four largest beef processors control 80 percent of the industry..

Minnesota’s 455 COVID deaths include 368 people who had been living in long-term care facilities, which have reported numerous outbreaks across the state. More than nine in 10 COVID-19 deaths in the state have involved EITHER residents of these facilities, or people with underlying health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, compromised immune systems, and diseases of the heart, kidney or lungs.....YET a death reported this weekend involved an individual in the 40s age range who appeared to have no underlying health conditions.

ON WALL STREET TUESDAY THE DOW JONES WAS UP 133 POINTS TO FINISH AT 23,883....THE SP500 WAS UP 25 POINTS AND THE NAZ 98....WTI CRUDE OIL WAS UP 1.40 TO FINISH AT 25.94