County Health Director Debbie Swanson divided her assessment of Grand Forks County’s COVID-19 situation into strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Some of Grand Forks County’s strengths are that cases have “leveled off” in the past few weeks at about 40 to 50 cases per 100,000 per day, and that there hasn’t been any progression toward widespread outbreak levels.
Federal monies, funneled through the state Department of Human Services, will be used to fund primary prevention strategies, said Sarah Shimek, character education and prevention coordinator for Grand Forks Public Schools.
City administrators and Altru Health System plan to offer $50 e-gift cards at a large-scale vaccine clinic next week. The cards' balance can be spent at a collection of local businesses.
Public health is an ever-evolving system that responds to changing science, society’s needs and health metrics. This has certainly been the lesson learned from 2020 and the first half of 2021.
