Experts fear aworsening toll inDakotas
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — With coronavirus cases running rampant in the Dakotas and elected leaders refusing to forcefully intervene, the burden of pushing people to take the virus seriously has increasingly been put on the families of those killed.
The ranks of those who know what it means to lose someone they love to COVID-19 are on the rise. North Dakota and South Dakota have the nation’s worst rates of deaths per capita over the last 30 days. Despite advances in treating COVID-19 patients, hundreds more people have died in recent weeks than during any other period.
In the Dakotas, the virus has shown fewsigns of slowing. With winter approaching and hospitals scrambling to make room for COVID-19 patients, medical experts worry that virus deaths will continue to climb in a region where people have been slow to adopt mitigation measures such as wearing masks. The Republican governors of both states have derided government orders to help halt the outbreaks, leaning on ideals of limited government.
The deaths have increasingly hit closer to home among many tight-knit communities: a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Fargo; a former school principal inDeSmet; an elementary school employee in Sioux Falls; a North Dakota state legislative candidate.
“Sometimes I think it’s not true,” said Chris Bjorkman, who lost her husband, John Bjorkman, 66. “Sometimes I think he’s going to walk through the door, but he hasn’t yet, so I just keep waiting.”
Bjorkman’s family, who live in De Smet, a town in
eastern South Dakota where Laura Ingalls Wilder once had a homestead, decided to publicly share his struggle with the virus because he loved serving the community. After a career as a teacher and school administrator, Bjorkman was a well-known figure, remembered for his fun-loving ways and care for children.
“I want people to know what COVID can do and
how serious it is,” Chris Bjorkman said.
The family experienced the crunch facing the health care system, as John Bjorkman was flown to a hospital in Minnesota after his condition worsened. The family posted regular Facebook updates as he was transferred to an intensive care unit bed in Sioux Falls and placed on a ventilator.
Doctors are unsure how many more cases like Bjorkman’s
they can handle.
“At this time, we’re headed in a direction of overwhelming our health care systems, and I think that’s closer thanwhat people understand,” said Dr. Michael Pietila, a critical care physician at the Yankton Medical Clinic.
The rush of virus patients has dialed up the emotional and physical stress on hospital staff, even as they try to stay free from infections.
“The COVID patients come in, and they’re sick for a long time— weeks at a time,” Pietila said. “A lot of these COVID patients don’t get better. There’s a lot of sorrow.“
North Dakota reported that 309 people died from COVIDin the last 30 days, more than all other periods combined. The state shot to the top of the nation in deaths per capita in the last 30 days, with roughly 41deaths per 100,000 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
South Dakota reported 252 deaths, a 98 percent increase in the last 30 days. It had a death rate of roughly 29 people per 100,000 over the last 30 days, according to the Johns Hopkins data.
“The devastation that I’m seeing frompeople is just so disheartening,” said Mike Henriksen, a South Dakota sports broadcaster who knew five people who died. “Ifwewould simplybe looking out for each other, we could prevent a lot of this.”
The severity of the situation in the Dakotas has concerned medical experts across the country such as Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. Jha noted that the region started experiencing a steep climb in cases after the SturgisMotorcycle Rally in South Dakota, an event that drew nearly 500,000 people. As infection numbers increase, Jha said, it becomes harder to control the spread.
“It is a freight train going very fast, and it is going to take enormous effort to stop it,” he said.
Doctors in the region are stunned that they are still struggling to persuade people to take precautions.
“When I go out and I don’t see a significant number of people masking, that really worries me,” said Dr. Jawad Nazir, a clinical professor at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. “This is not going away.”
On a tour of Bismarck, N.D., on Oct. 26, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, shook her head at what she found, saying she saw less use of masks than anywhere else she’s been in the country.
Yet the governors of both states have made it clear they won’t issue mask mandates.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who just won reelection, is adhering to what he calls a “light touch of government” and encouraging people to voluntarily wear face coverings. He also has refused to enforce limits on social gatherings and business occupancies.
In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem has cast doubt on whether wearing masks in public is effective, saying she’ll leave it up to the people to decide. She has said the virus can’t be stopped.
More people who have experienced COVID-19 firsthand, including Republicans, are calling on the government to do more.
The speaker of North Dakota’s House, Bismarck Republican Lawrence Klemin, spent four days at his 99year-old mother’s bedside, “holding her hand and watching her die” from COVID-19. Klemin said maskwearing needs to be enforced.
“It really was a tough thing to experience,” Klemin said of his mother’s death. “I don’t wish that to happen to anyone.”