![](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/201111144544-north-dakota-coronavirus-super-tease.jpg)
The sheer magnitude of those numbers makes them hard for us to properly contextualize. The enormity of what we’ve lost is challenging to get our arms around.
Which is why this headline stopped me in my tracks when I came across it today in the Fargo Forum:
Yes, you read that right. One in every 500 residents of North Dakota have died of Covid-19. Not been infected. Died.
Here’s the math: North Dakota has had 1,560-plus people die from Covid-19. And according to the 2020 census, its population is 779,094. So divide 779,094 by 1,560 and you get roughly 500.
What’s even more remarkable? North Dakota isn’t the only state where that 1 in 500 figure is true.
Four of those six states — all except Michigan and New Jersey — are run by Republican governors. And in South Dakota and Florida, in particular, their governors have an eye on national office in 2024 and used their laissez-faire approach to Covid-19 as a resume booster.
The Point: Take a minute today to consider what it means to lose 1 of every 500 people (or 1 of every 346) in your state to this awful disease. And to hope that terrifying numbers like these convince more people to get vaccinated. It’s our only hope of avoiding even more death and loss.