Month: August 2020

The new Costco, a 157,500-square-foot facility and gas station located U.S. Highway 83 and 57th Avenue Northeast in northern Bismarck, will open its doors Tuesday morning, Aug. 25, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speech by Mayor Steve Bakken. "People are always asking if we can get a Costco in the western part of the state," said Susan Holloway, project coordinator for the Bismarck Costco, noting that western North Dakota residents have been requesting a Costco for several years. The nearest Costco to Bismarck is in West Fargo, and residents in western North Dakota can drive all the way to Billings, Mont., before they hit another Costco. Last August, Bismarck city co...

A wedding reception held in Maine in early August led to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 50 people and resulted in one death, according to health officials in the northeastern state. The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it had launched an investigation into the August 7 event last Monday, after 24 individuals who had attended the wedding reception at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket tested positive for COVID-19. On Saturday, health officials said that 53 infections have now been linked to the event and one person has died, Main's The Portland Press Herald reported. "Social gatherings such as weddings and receptions pose an elevated risk for virus transmission," Maine's CDC said in a press released emailed to Newsweek. "The po...

State public health leaders have sharpened their messages of personal responsibility recently in the COVID-19 pandemic, concerned that Minnesotans are starting to go numb to the risk. Two announcements Friday hammered that point home. Health officials said they’d confirmed 15 cases of COVID-19 among Minnesotans who traveled to South Dakota for the massive Sturgis motorcycle rally, and they expect more to come. And in Northfield, Minn., 17 St. Olaf students were suspended for the fall semester for being at an off-campus party without wearing masks or social distancing. At least one person was infected with COVID-19 and exposed others. Coronavirus statistics in Minnesota as of Saturday: 68,867 total cases confirmed (746 new), 61,698 off isolation 1,761 deaths (eight new) 316 currently ho...

A new study from Brazil has found that people with sociopathic traits are more likely to not comply with mask-wearing and other measures to limit the spread of coronavirus. The study investigated the relationship between antisocial personality traits and compliance with COVID-19 measures using a sample of 1,578 Brazilian adults aged between 18 and 73. Between May 21 and June 29, participants completed a test that assessed maladaptive personality traits as well as assessments on apathy and compliance with coronavirus-related measures. The findings were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. The researchers found that those who had higher scores in traits including callousness, deceitfulness, hostility, impulsivity, irresponsibility, manipulativeness and risk-takin...