BISMARCK — Knowing the day would come when the state would report its first death from the coronavirus didn’t make it any easier to accept when it became a reality Friday, March 27, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said.

A Cass County man in his 90s died Thursday, March 26, from COVID-19, making him the coronavirus' first fatality in North Dakota, the state Department of Health announced in a new release.

“Today is a sad day for North Dakota,” Burgum said during a news conference in Bismarck. “While we knew this day was coming, it doesn’t diminish the profound impact for a family in North Dakota losing a family member, a friend, a loved one.”

The announcement of North Dakota’s first death came alongside two executive orders. With wide support from the personal care industry, Burgum signed an order Friday that closed all businesses within that industry, including hair salons, nail parlors, barber shops, tattoo artists and massage therapists, at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. He attributed the move to the state having more community spread cases than travel-related infections.

Businesses violating the closing order are subject to a $1,000 fine.

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Burgum also signed an executive order suspending employer payments for unemployment taxes and interest for the first quarter of the year. They were due on March 31, but those payments are deferred.

The Cass County man had underlying health conditions and acquired COVID-19 through community spread, meaning the source of infection was unknown, the release said. No information was released on whether he was hospitalized or if there were others in close contact with him that are being quarantined.

“We should prepare ourselves for the real possibility that this will not be our last,” Burgum said of the man's death, adding it is a reminder every North Dakotan has a responsibility to prevent the illness’ spread.

“With community spread, we will never know how this individual contracted this disease.”

The U.S. has confirmed 85,356 positive cases and 1,246 deaths due to COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes two deaths confirmed in Minnesota.

With 10 additional positive cases confirmed Friday in North Dakota, the state's total comes to 68, Burgum said. Friday also marked a record number of tests completed in one day with 447, he said. North Dakota has record 2,708 completed tests, according to the health department

Fifteen people have recovered from coronavirus infections. Sixteen have been hospitalized.

The Cass County man’s case was confirmed positive in a batch of test numbers released March 24, according to previous reports. North Dakota reported its first case on March 18.

Burgum dispelled rumors the state would “shut down” Friday. Closing the state’s borders would prevent food and medical supplies from coming into North Dakota he said.

“I want to reassure North Dakotans that this is not the plan and it’s not even possible,” he said as he called shuttering the border a nonsensical, noneffective approach.

Slowing the spread of the coronavirus is not about limiting travel, but rather restricting being in the position to transmit the disease, he said.

Sheltering in place is a tool that some states, including Minnesota, has used, Burgum said. It is a time for North Dakotans to exercise their right to freedom by choosing to take measures to protect those at risk, he said.

“In North Dakota, we’re banking on that North Dakotans understand what individual responsibility is and they respond to that more than they might respond to a government mandate,” he said.

Cases from Friday, March 27

Of Friday’s 10 cases, Cass County reported three — a man and woman both in their 60s and whose origin of contraction is under investigation, as well as a woman in her 20s who had a history of travel.

Morton County also had three — a man and woman each in their 50s and a woman in her 60s, all under investigation, according to a news release from the North Dakota Department of Health.

Stark County had listed a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s, both under investigation.

A Burleigh County woman in her 30s tested positive through close contact, and how a woman in her 30s in that county, the case of which is under investigation, the department said.

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