Up

The mobile coronavirus testing North Dakota deployed in Slope, Stark and Mountrail counties helped speed up the response in Grand Forks last week after an outbreak was identified at the LM Wind Power facility. State and local public health officials conducted 424 drive-thru tests on Thursday, for employees, people who had close contact with infected workers, household members and employees not showing symptoms. The experiences in the other counties put North Dakota in a stronger position to respond to the outbreak. Gov. Doug Burgum said the state is working to further increase its ability to respond, including planning for the potential of more than one outbreak at a time.

Down

Social distancing is necessary to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, but it’s also creating opportunities for abusers. The isolation gives abusers an opportunity to control victims by limiting access to basic necessities and keeping them from seeing friends and family. Fortunately, Bismarck-Mandan authorities have not seen an uptick in domestic violence reports since the stay-at-home recommendations were put in place. But domestic violence often is not reported. Victim advocates including Bismarck’s Abused Adult Resource Center are wisely not letting their guard down and are brainstorming new ways to help reach victims.

Up

Job Service North Dakota employees are working around the clock to meet the spike in unemployment claims. Since March 16, more than 51,000 unemployment claims have been filed, a volume the agency usually sees over two years. Meeting the demand has involved shifting employees from local Job Service offices, shifting information technology employees so teams are working all of the time, and staffing weekends. This week, North Dakotans are expected to begin receiving the $600 weekly unemployment checks from the federal government after the state began processing a high volume of back payments.

Down

Most bankers in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states expect the coronavirus pandemic to push local areas into recession, a survey released last week showed. The overall index for the region that includes North Dakota and surrounding states plummeted from 35.5 in March to 12.1 in April -- the lowest index recorded since the survey began in January 2006. A score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy, while a score above 50 suggests a growing economy, The Associated Press reported. More than 90% of bankers surveyed reported a decline in customer visits, and nearly one-third reported higher loan delinquency rates.