BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota’s longest-serving Supreme Court justice expected he would be released from the hospital this week where he has been recovering from COVID-19.
Justice Gerald VandeWalle, who has been on the court for 42 years, has been hospitalized at Sanford Health in Bismarck since Aug. 3.
The 87-year-old justice says the virus has been much more debilitating than a typical cold or flu. VandeWalle tells the Bismarck Tribune that he lost a lot of his strength while confined to his room.
He said he’s been keeping up with his work on the court, reading emails and printed briefs and drafting opinions. But VandeWalle said he hasn’t been able to communicate as well with his law clerks and four fellow justices.
VandeWalle isn’t sure how he contracted COVID-19. He had been working from the state Capitol amid the pandemic and has worn a mask and gloves while shopping.
“I never thought it would happen to me. It certainly did, and I should have been aware of how old I was, and maybe I should have been smarter,” he said. “But you can’t close up totally, either.”
He went to a walk-in clinic after feeling ill and tested positive. He lost his senses of taste and smell, which he said he still hasn’t recovered.
VandeWalle served as chief justice from 1993 through 2019.
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