Minot Daily News SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021 MinotDailyNews.com • Facebook • Twitter
C HURCH
COVID-19 Recovery
AND CORONAVIRUS
Coping with COVID-19 By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com ho knew it would last this long? Not even churches and their congregations were spared from the precautions brought on by the lengthy and ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “We started this journey in the season of Lent last year. We weren’t able to gather for Easter,” said Pastor Desiree Uhrich, Christ Lutheran Church, Minot. “It’s been a year now. Seems impossible.” For Easter 2021 members of Christ Lutheran Church were able to gather for a traditional Easter service. “We approached the Easter season with hope of gathering and experiencing joy together,” said Uhrich. “The church never wasn’t alive and we’re seeing how important and resilient it is.” Father Justin Waltz of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church of Minot credits the area bishop with doing an “outstanding job of navigating through” the coronavirus pandemic, particularly during the early phases of the pandemic when there was considerable uncertainty about coronavirus. He also recalls closing church doors during Holy Week and Easter of 2020. “Everything was virtual with no one there. It was the first time in my life,” said Waltz. “It was the first time in the history of the Catholic Church where no mass was offered anywhere on Earth.” Waltz said he’s had virtual messages go viral and has received emails from throughout the world. “In Ireland and England those people were still locked down and expressed extreme frustration,” said Waltz. “I think North Dakota is kind of like a bubble compared to the rest of the world. It’s kind of a phenomenon. I have friends in Italy on lockdown.” Throughout the pandemic churches turned to live-streaming of services in place of regular services, a necessary precaution to prevent possible exposure to COVID-19. “We are working our way to the new norm,” said Pastor Janet Mathistad, Bethany Lutheran Church, Minot. “At the height of things we encouraged people to not come, to stay at home and watch online. I am glad at the beginning we didn’t know how long this was going to be.” Mathistad called cooperation from the Bethany congregation a blessing, noting that Easter services a year ago were live-streamed as well as Christmas services. By the middle of June Bethany’s church doors were opened again, but with the precautions of wearing protective masks and practicing social distancing. “Masks are a tool that we have and we use things that we know are effective,” said Mathistad. “People are cooperative with the mask requirement and that is still part of our protocol.” “A lot of people are not yet comfortable but still feel connected,” remarked Uhrich. “We’re still requiring masks at church. Everybody recognizes to wear them for ourselves and each other.” There’s other notable changes too, such as seating in every other pew. At Bethany, even though a new air exchange unit has been installed, different areas are used to accommodate multiple services in a single day. Both pastors note they are slowly easing into previous congregational practices and in-person participation is on the increase as more and more church members become vaccinated against COVID-19. “They’ll be back when vaccinated. They’re so joyful,” said Uhrich. “I had an older gentleman a couple of weeks ago at church for the first time since this all began. It’s been heartbreaking to see people like that isolated. They want to go to church.” Father Waltz noted St. Leo’s has opened its door again and the response has been overwhelming. “My church is packed full for all of the Sunday masses, even daily masses,” remarked Waltz. “These are free, adult Americans who can make their own informed choice as to what’s best for them and their families. They are choosing to come.” What changes due to the pandemic will become permanent for worshipers and what changes will fade away is not yet known, but all three pastors shared some personal insight. “It’s been a great lesson in patience,” remarked Uhrich. “I do believe we’ll continue to improve our digital church. It’s a doorway that we can reach people maybe we didn’t reach before. I think that will stay.” “It’s hard to know, but online will always be here from now on out,” agreed Mathistad. “People have gotten comfortable watching worship online. On the other hand there’s a greater appreciation for when we are together again. With the vaccine our numbers are coming back.” “We encourage hand sanitizing and have that readily available at all of our doors,” said Waltz. “I don’t think COVID has had a lasting effect here but it is having a tremendously lasting negative effect throughout the globe.”
W
Photos by Kim Fundingsland/MDN
TOP: St. Leo the Great Catholic Church is among many in Minot having to adjust to meet the needs of parishioners during the coronavirus pandemic. Kim Fundingsland/MDN ABOVE: Like many other churches, Minot’s Christ Lutheran Church implemented several changes due to COVID-19, including live-streaming of services.
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C HALLENGES
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Saturday, April 10, 2021
AND CHANGES
Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: COVID-19 Recovery
Working through a pandemic By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com GARRISON – The coronavirus pandemic didn’t restrict itself to city limits or county lines. It was evident all across North Dakota, in communities large and small and place in between. Krause’s SuperValu has a store here and locations in Hazen and Washburn. All three stores were essential to supplying customers with groceries and other products, pandemic or not. While stores in the state’s larger cities, such as Minot and Bismarck, had a flurry of customers purchasing many items during the early phase of the pandemic, so too did stores in smaller communities. Krause’s SuperValu in Garrison was no exception. “Remember the hysteria, the run on toilet paper?” asked Shannon Staehr, store manager. “I don’t think I ran out at all. We have a warehouse back of the store and I had several pallets of toilet paper. I fared pretty well!” There were numerous challenges that had to be overcome as consumers kept the pressure on grocers and other stores, especially if certain products weren’t available close to home. “I had shoppers from Minot because Minot stores were wiped out and our Washburn store was busy with Bismarck shoppers,” said Staehr. Some commodity items became hard to find early on in the pandemic. Many of them were sold off on world markets with no more product to replenish store shelves. Demand for groceries and other items rose rapidly as more and more people determined that staying at home as much as possible was their best defense against contacting coronavirus. Lately, says Staehr, product supply has improved. “It’s okay now, not near like it was at the height of COVID,” remarked Staehr. “It’s a lot better than it was.” One of the problems that led to supply shortages of certain items was that some production plants were forced to close due to COVID outbreaks among employees. Quite
naturally, employee exposure to COVID and the resulting loss of necessary workers, was a concern to anyone in retail, especially in an essential business such as groceries. “We were very lucky,” said Staehr. “We only had two people in store that tested positive.” As a precaution against COVID Krause’s in Garrison dedicated one employee to do nothing but clean and sanitize surfaces throughout the store. “All she does is wiping stuff down, constantly,” explained Staehr. “From the very beginning we were wiping everything down –
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coolers, carts, handrails, any flat surface. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to keep employees and customers safe.” Looking ahead as the pandemic appears to be lessening in severity and more and more of the population receives anti-COVID vaccine, some changes brought about by the pandemic are likely to become permanent. “I think plexiglass guards will always be up there,” said Staehr. “As for masks, I don’t know for sure. It’s a personal choice now. We required them much longer than what was mandated by the state and a lot of my cashiers still wear them.”
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Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Businesses at smaller communities throughout the state, such as Krause’s SuperValu in Garrison, were among the many who had to make adjustments in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: COVID-19 Recovery
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GROCERS MEET COVID-19 GUIDELINES Essential service makes adjustments By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com Pandemic or not, people need a reliable food supply. That means making trips to the supermarket and interacting with numerous other people. Grocers reacted quickly to insure as safe a shopping environment as possible. Protective plexiglass shields were erected as a precaution against the unwanted spread of coronavirus between workers and customers. Employees responded by wearing face masks. Sanitizing of shopping carts, credit card readers, and other frequently touched surfaces became a priority. Grocery customers were asked to wear protective masks for the safety of themselves and others. “We want customers and employees to wear masks and I don’t see anything in the foreseeable future to change that,” said Justin Crocker, store director, Cash Wise Foods. “What we are looking at is the new norm for a while.” During the early days of the pandemic many retailers experienced a furious run on many goods. Remember the toilet paper shortage? Supermarkets were especially hard hit as people stocked up on many products, pasta and canned foods among them. Cleaning products were in great demand. Shelves for many items were often bare or, when stocked, quickly reduced by customers. “It was challenging,” said Crocker. “Some items were not available. Manufacturers stopped production of certain things. Plants were shut down and it affected groceries in an impactful way.” Though it all though, grocers remained open and served the public as much as possible during a nationwide demand for thousands and thousands of products. “The whole thing was a series of big challenges. Staffing became an issue with close contacts for a little while which didn’t help us,” recalled Crocker. “Product procurement got really wild for a while.” Today it is very much business as usual at supermarkets with ample supplies of food and other items. As more and more people become vaccinated against coronovirus and the total number of people infected with the disease continues to shrink, many are wondering what the lasting impact of the pandemic will be. Some changes, such as the plexiglass barriers, might remain. “All that goes beyond what we are thinking for now,” said Crocker. “We’ll have more talk, more discussion as time goes on.”
Photos by Kim Fundingsland/MDN
TOP: A familiar sight during the coronavirus pandemic has been plexiglass and face masks, both utilized extensively at various locations as a precaution against COVID-19. ABOVE: Grocery stores necessarily remained open and operational throughout the pandemic, implementing precautions such as mask wearing and social distancing were observed.
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: COVID-19 Recovery
POLICE
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
AND THE PANDEMIC
Minot Police Field Training Officer Andy Melhoff holds hand sanitizer that is frequently used by police officers as a precaution against coronavirus.
COVID-19 alters operations By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com Even in the midst of a pandemic, police must necessarily continue to protect and patrol. Coping with COVID-19 became a priority to insure that enough police remained healthy so that there was no lack of law enforcement in the City of Minot. First year Police Chief John Klug had just taken over from retiring Chief Jason Olson when the pandemic struck. “That was March 2020,” recalled Klug. “About six weeks after I took over as chief. I couldn’t have thought that my first year would be in a pandemic, couldn’t have dreamt that in my worst nightmare.” The message that COVID-19 could become a real problem for law enforcement came through loud and clear in the early stages of the pandemic. A department employee was one of the first confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state. “A lot of eyes were on our department,” said Klug. “What was our response going to be? It could be life and death decisions for our officers. It definitely tested me in making decisions.” One of the biggest things for the department, said Klug, was the amount of time devoted to planning daily operations to minimize the chances of coronavirus spreading through police ranks. COVID-19 created a constantly changing work environment. “Nobody knew what to expect,” said Klug. “You had to trust what was the latest and greatest information. We had to trust the First District Health Unit, State Health Department, CDC, and hoped they were all saying something similar so we didn’t have to guess which one to follow.” See POLICE — Page 5
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: COVID-19 Recovery
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
All personnel at the Minot Police Department have been directed to use face masks during the coronavirus outbreak in an effort to keep the virus from spreading throughout the ranks.
Police
Continued from Page 4
As the number of people who came down with coronavirus continued to grow, so too did the impact of the virus at the Police Department. Out of a staff of 117 about 15 were out at one time due to the virus and there was no way to tell how widespread the outbreak would become. “We had to ask ourselves then what this might look like in another week,” stated Klug. “Eventually we were going to run out of people. We had to reduce the chance of spreading infection within our walls and we still had to run our operation.” The problem was very real, especially the possibility that if one officer on a shift tested positive for COVID-19 then all others on that same shift might have to enter quarantine. “They could all get wiped out,” said Klug. “Some of our department could work from home but, obviously, our officers can’t. Detectives can for the most part but it is not ideal. We had to start thinking about who could step up and help fill the gaps if it came to that.” As a defense against contracting coronavirus, Minot Police were directed to practice social distancing, wear masks, and make generous use of hand sanitizer. “Not everybody liked it,” remarked Klug. “Whenever officers thought there was a pos-
sibility of being within six feet of someone they put a mask on. Like wearing a gun or a protective vest, it wasn’t an option. Eventually it became easier for the officers to just put a mask on and leave it on.” Police precautions worked and, despite constant interaction with the public, there was no major loss of work days by personnel due to coronovirus. Furthermore, said Klug, there have actually been a few benefits to the pandemic. “It helped up build a better relationship with First District,” said Klug. “I think it brought a better cycle of communication to a number of agencies.” During the early stages of the pandemic, obtaining necessary supplies, such as protective face masks, was an issue. Supplies were low and the demand was high. Klug said a lesson learned was that his department needed to improve their stockpile of safety equipment that was “getting sucked up by every organization around the country.” So what about the lasting effect of the pandemic, changes that may become permanent? “It may change how people deal with the flu season,” speculated Klug. “Maybe all this distancing and mask wearing and hand washing decreases that as well. The trouble right now is trying to find the truth in that sea of information to determine what’s right and what’s wrong.”
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