Dave Baumeister | County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – As of late Tuesday afternoon, five cases of the coronavirus had been reported in South Dakota, including one in Minnehaha County and a death in Pennington County.
But earlier in the day when Public Health Manager Sandy Frentz spoke to the Minnehaha County Commission at this week’s meeting, no cases had been reported here.
Even still, Frentz told commissioners that local plans were already in the works for dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19).
She said work in the county had mainly been divided into three areas: situational awareness, planning and communication.
At a meeting last week, members of several health and government agencies came together to discuss the pandemic.
Frentz explained that there is much erroneous information circulating about the virus, but websites for the South Dakota Department of Health (https://doh.sd.gov) and the Center for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov) are two places people can go for credible information.
And while there is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, the main dangers of the virus exist for older people or those with already compromised immune systems, according to the CDC website.
Otherwise, the symptoms of coronavirus are similar to those of the flu.
But Frentz said, to be safe, people need to practice “respiratory hygiene,” such as always covering coughs, washing vigorously with soap for 20 seconds or more, properly disposing of tissues, etc.
“Keeping people at a distance” is also a good prevention tip,” she said.
She advised that if people think they might be infected, they should call their physician to get instructions on what to do.
Depending on the severity of symptoms, a person might be evaluated and tested at a clinic, or they might be told to go to an emergency room for treatment.
As of later in the day on Tuesday, the DOH reported five “presumptive” cases had been reported in South Dakota.
Even though the virus is tested and confirmed at the state laboratory, the national CDC has to confirm the cases before they become “official.”
As of Tuesday evening, the CDC website still showed no COVID-19 cases in South Dakota, even though the DOH website showed otherwise.
Media releases show that of the five people believed to be infected, one, a man in his 60s from Pennington County has died. It was reported that he suffered from underlying health conditions.
Also, they reported that a man in his 40s from Minnehaha County has also been infected.
Supposedly, none of the cases are interrelated and all involve some type of travel outside of the state, although news released at this point has been sketchy.
Others testing positive in Pierre are a man in his 40s from Beadle County, a man in his 50s from Charles Mix County and a woman in her 30s from Davidson County.
Other information
This week’s commission meeting was also heavy on other reports, with commissioners hearing from County Coroner Dr. Kenneth Snell, the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society and Emergency Management Director Jason Gearman, who talked about the spring flooding situation.
While the city and county currently have 20,000 pre-filled sandbags in storage, Gearman didn’t believe they would need to be used – if the weather stays the way it is now.
However, he was quick to point out that a major event with strong rains could change that in a hurry.
He said that the Big Sioux River is currently running right at flood stage, but the mild weather has already melted most of the snow here and to the north, so, if conditions remain the same, the river isn’t expected to rise any higher.
The Minnehaha Commission has its regular meetings each Tuesday at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
These meetings are open to all, and public comment is always encouraged.