By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – During the Tuesday, March 10, Minnehaha County Commission meeting, no cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported in South Dakota, according to Sioux Falls Public Health Manager Sandy Frentz.
However, within a few hours of that briefing, five cases were reported in the state, including one death in Pennington County.
And as of Saturday, March 14, the count had climbed to nine people testing positive, including three in Minnehaha County.
But when Frentz briefed commissioners, before anyone had tested positive, she told them 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 the week before, 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 could 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 can be similar to those of the flu.
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., Frentz said.
“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.
When the DOH reported five cases on Tuesday, March 10, they were listed as “presumptive.”
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 Saturday evening, the DOH website showed nine COVID-19 cases in South Dakota.
Media releases show that of the people believed to be infected in the state, one, a man in his 60s from Pennington County has died. It was reported that he suffered from underlying health conditions.
The first person testing positive in Minnehaha County was a man in his 40s who has children at West Central High School in Hartford, and that led to the school being closed on Wednesday, March 11, for “deep cleaning.”
School officials said that while the man had not been at the school since testing positive, his children were there, which is why they had the school cleaned.
Also, the DOH website reports two other positives in Minnehaha County. The rest are from Beadle, Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Davison and McCook Counties.
Supposedly, none of the cases are interrelated and all involve some type of travel outside of the state.
Other information
The county 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.
