Preparing for possibility of COVID-19 fall peak

There are currently 393 positive COVID-19 cases across North Dakota

FARGO, N.D. — NDSU Professor Dr. Paul Carson says physical distancing in North Dakota has been working.

He says although the state has done a good job of flattening the curve, there is a possibility of the coronavirus peaking again in the fall.

Dr. Carson says situations that would place people in close proximity again create the right conditions for COVID-19 to flare back up.

That includes students going back to traditional schooling and getting employees back into the workforce.

“I think we can actually expect that, but the hope is that we’ve bought enough breathing space here to really ramp up our testing capability, ramp up our contact tracing capability,” says Dr. Carson.

Along with more testing and contact tracing, Dr. Carson says the hope is there will be enough personal protective equipment and surge capacities by that point to identify and treat patients more quickly.