"COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is an illness caused by a virus. This virus is a new coronavirus that has spread throughout the world. It is thought to spread mainly through close contact from person to person." MedlinePlus 

Current Policies

NDSU Face Covering Policy 

Fargo Cass Public Health: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Prevention Procedures  

Clay County Guidance on COVID-19

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace

NDDoH has developed new guidance and resources for businesses.

What you can do

NDSU Student travel

Mandatory academic student travel guidance can be found here.
Voluntary student travel guidance can be found here

Prevention

How to Protect Yourself

Masks

• Your Guide to Masks
• Improve How Your Mask Protects You
• Types of Masks

Mask tutorials:

How to make a face mask for doctors, nurses and health care workers - COVID-19 - Deaconess Hospital

Instructional video for sewing the Olson mask (COVID-19)

Surgeon General Shows How to Make Your Own Face Covering

Cleaning and environment:

Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Home

Improving Ventilation in Your Home

CDC recommendations for Schools and Child Care Programs​

CDC recommendations for Workplaces and Businesses

CDC recommendation for Community, Work, and School

Testing and Vaccine

Free Test Kits

NDDoH distributing free at-home COVID-19 tests statewide

"The program is intended to supplement the ongoing federal program to distribute free tests. The test kits are being distributed statewide and will be available for pickup, at no cost, starting Tuesday, Feb. 15. It is recommended that citizens pick up tests as needed, with a start of two tests per household member."

Individuals who would like to pick up these free test kits can find a location near them via the NDDoH website at: http://health.nd.gov/covidtesting — located in the “test locations” table.

Individuals also order free test kits through the U.S. Postal Service.

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.

How to get your At-Home Over-The-Counter COVID-19 Test for Free at a store

Starting January 15, most people with a health plan can go online, or to a pharmacy or store to purchase an at-home over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic test authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at no cost, either through reimbursement or free of charge through their insurance. This applies whether you purchased your health plan on your own or whether you get health insurance through your job.

NDSU

Student health

Vaccination for students and employees

North Dakota

Testing & Care

COVID-19 Vaccine Information

Minnesota

Testing: Where to get tested, types of tests, and what to expect.

COVID-19 Vaccine: Information, data, and guidance for the vaccine in Minnesota.

 

Statistics

National

National Data Tracker

Johns Hopkins Dashboard

North Dakota

North Dakota Covid Dashboard

COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard

NDUS Dashboard

NDSU Covid Cases
Current positive cases include faculty, staff, or students who have received a positive test within the last ten days.

Minnesota

Coronavirus Disease- situation update

International

World Health Organization - Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variants

About variants
"Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants persist. Numerous variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are being tracked in the United States and globally during this pandemic."

Variant Proportions
"CDC’s national SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance program identifies and tracks SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the United States and calculates the proportion of variants causing infections, nationally and by HHS region. The thousands of sequences provided every week through CDC’s national genomic surveillance efforts fuel the comprehensive and population-based U.S. surveillance system required to monitor the spread of variants."

Delta Variant
"On July 27, 2021, CDC released updated guidance on the need for urgently increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage and a recommendation for everyone in areas of substantial or high transmission to wear a mask in public indoor places, even if they are fully vaccinated."

Omicron Variant (B1.1.529)

• Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know (CDC)
• WHO
  "On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).  This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes." 

Research

Get the latest research information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NCBI- SARS-CoV-2 Resources

PubMed articles

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

• Perception of Local COVID-19 Transmission and Use of Preventive Behaviors Among Adults with Recent SARS-CoV-2 Infection — Illinois and Michigan, June 1–July 31, 2022
• Sociodemographic Variation in Early Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccine and Parental Intent and Attitudes Toward Vaccination of Children Aged 6 Months–4 Years — United States, July 1–29, 2022
• Effectiveness of a Third Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines in Preventing COVID-19 Hospitalization Among Immunocompetent and Immunocompromised Adults — United States, August–December 2021
• COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations by COVID-19 Vaccination Status and Previous COVID-19 Diagnosis — California and New York, May–November 2021
• COVID-19 Incidence and Death Rates Among Unvaccinated and Fully Vaccinated Adults with and Without Booster Doses During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Emergence — 25 U.S. Jurisdictions, April 4–December 25, 2021
• Effectiveness of a Third Dose of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Predominance — VISION Network, 10 States, August 2021–January 2022
• Multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in a University Outbreak After Spring Break — Chicago, Illinois, March–May 2021
• COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years — United States, December 14, 2020–July 31, 2021

Narratives and first person accounts

"The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) has partnered with agency KK Bold to develop an outreach effort for the citizens of North Dakota. This effort, referred to as the North Dakota CoVID-19 Impact Wall,  features a collection of stories about North Dakotans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and will be promoted in a statewide campaign in the weeks to come."

If exposed to Covid

Quarantine and Isolation (CDC)

Quarantine

 If you were exposed

You quarantine and stay away from others when you have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.

lungs virus light icon

Isolate

  If you are sick or test positive

You isolate when you are sick or when you have been infected with the virus, even if you don’t have symptoms.

When to Stay Home

Calculating Quarantine

The date of your exposure is considered day 0. Day 1 is the first full day after your last contact with a person who has had COVID-19. Stay home and away from other people for at least 5 days. Learn why CDC updated guidance for the general public.

 

Learn more.