ND’s mask mandate & capacity requirements extended

BISMARCK, N.D. – Governor Doug Burgum extends the state’s mask mandate, capacity requirements for businesses and bar and restaurant closures at 10 each night.

They were set to expire Sunday.

Burgum says he’s extending those orders because North Dakota still has low hospital capacity and is among the highest Covid-19 positivity rates in the country.

The guidelines are set to expire January 18th. By then the two week quarantine period will be over for people traveling for the holidays.

The governor also hopes many healthcare workers and those living in long-term care will get vaccinated by January 18th.

“Hopefully when we’re in the first week of January we’ll be looking at the same kind of data that we are coming out of Thanksgiving which is numbers that held flat and then began in a downward trend,” Burgum said.

Since the mask mandate and capacity requirements went into effect November 13th, North Dakota dropped from first to 10th in the country in new cases per capita.

Watch Burgum’s entire Covid-19 press conference below.