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North Dakota currently has the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases per capita in the U.S., according to an analysis by the New York Times. In the most recent task force report, dated Oct. 18, the state also had the highest rate of cases in the country.

An ABC News analysis found that the daily rate of positivity and current hospitalizations in North Dakota have increased over the past two weeks.

On Tuesday, the state health department reported 896 new cases, for a daily positivity rate of 14.82%. The rolling 14-day positivity rate was 10.9% -- more than double the rate that health experts recommend.

North Dakota saw a 39.9% increase in week-to-week new cases on Oct. 20, according to an Oct. 26 Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News. The state also surpassed 1,000 daily new cases for the first time on Oct. 20, the memo said. The state's growing caseload has created a backlog, increasing the time it takes to notify people who have tested positive from 24 hours to 72 hours, according to HHS.

\"PHOTO:
ABC Photo Illustration
PHOTO: Daily New COVID-19 Cases in North Dakota
>

On the question of whether statewide mask mandates are effective, Birx said, \"When you look at the states and when they implemented a mask mandate and you look at their cases per million and you look at their fatalities per million, they are lower than states that chose to recommend masks but not to mandate,\" the Bismarck Tribune reported.

Birx did not say Monday whether she recommended that Gov. Doug Burgum mandate that masks be worn in public.

The Republican governor defended the state's mask approach during Monday's roundtable.

\"We know we don't have enforcement mechanisms in North Dakota where someone is going to force someone to wear a mask,\" he said. \"So again, it comes back to individuals choosing the role that they want to play in the community.\"

Bismarck's city commission was expected to vote on a mask order Tuesday night, local TV station KFYR-TV reported. The mayor has voiced opposition to a mandate in the city.

\"PHOTO:
Dan Koeck/Bloomberg via Getty Images
PHOTO: A medical staff member performs a Covid-19 test outside the Family Healthcare building in downtown Fargo, ND., Oct. 15, 2020.
>

Birx did praise what she called North Dakota's \"superb\" job of testing, while calling for all North Dakotans to practice social distancing and wear a mask, especially as the weather cools, to avoid what she called \"silent spread\" indoors.

\"It starts with the community, and the community deciding that it's important for their children to be in school, the community deciding that it's important not to infect the nursing home staff who are caring for their residents -- for North Dakotans -- every day,\" she said.

What to know about the coronavirus:

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