Today (November 5) is Governor Doug Burgum's first media briefing since the 2020 election. He was re-elected Governor of North Dakota - he won with 69.3% of the votes. So, people had been wondering if Governor Burgum will enforce a statewide mask mandate since his position is basically secure for the next four years. Did the governor change his stance on government enforcement of a mask mandate OR did he continue to push personal responsibility in masking up?

When he first got to the podium, Governor Burgum started talking about the record number of cases and hospitalizations because of COVID-19 in North Dakota. He later stated that our state has had 8,394 new cases in the past seven days, 231 hospitalized DUE TO COVID-19, 29 deaths (through this afternoon), and a statewide 13.1% 14-day rolling average. Also, the governor made it a point to say that, if we look at the percentages, we have one-half-to-one-third of the amount of cases compared to neighboring states - even though we have record COVID-19 numbers. So, our numbers are not good, but they are not the worst, comparatively.

Despite speculation that he would do it, Governor Doug Burgum did not issue a statewide mask mandate. Like always, he asked North Dakotans to "find your why" to inspire us to find a personal reason to mask up. He asked us to think about the hospital workers and the people we care about.

He did also say that the majority of community spread in North Dakota is when we are continuing to go to crowded places outside of work and home. And we were warned that things can get worse due to weather and gatherings if we don't mask up and physical distance. So, will there ever be a point where a statewide mask mandate is put in place for North Dakota?

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