North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum issued guidelines Thursday for gradually reopening the state’s economy as early as May 1.
“As the state continues working to implement, expand and improve upon these areas with a whole-of-government approach, the North Dakota Department of Commerce will lead the reopening planning efforts, which Burgum dubbed ‘ND Smart Restart,'” the Republican governor’s office said.
In order to begin reopening businesses and schools beyond April 30, the governor said North Dakota needs “robust” testing capacity and contact tracing infrastructure, effective quarantine measures, adequate personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, sufficient hospital capacity, protection for the state’s most vulnerable populations, such as senior citizens, and plans to address a possible resurgence of the virus.
“Over the next few days, Commerce, which began forming an Economic Resiliency Team at the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, will work directly with associations that represent the businesses affected by the closures to develop new standard operating procedures for a graduated safe reopening,” Burgum’s office said.
Burgum signed an executive order Wednesday to extend business closures for another 10 days “to protect the health and safety of business owners, their employees and their customers.” The extension coincides with President Trump’s “30 Days to Slow the Spread” framework released March 31 to keep nonessential businesses closed until April 30, by which time the outbreak will have hopefully plateaued.
North Dakota has confirmed 365 cases total with nine deaths. Wednesday saw the highest single-day increase, with another 24 cases confirmed.
