by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
After sweeping through the area throughout November and December, COVID-19 has been on a downward trend in South Dakota, granting some relief to healthcare workers and officials.
This does not mean however, that the virus crisis is anywhere close to being gone. Just this weekend Big Ern’s Sports Cabin let all their customers know that after a positive COVID-19 test, owner Ernie Smith would be going into quarantine and that his bar & grill will be temporarily closed. Prayers of support and get-well messages from the community at large would be welcome.
"I would like to thank community members for the work they've done with mitigation and diligence to that mitigation, because it's showing in our numbers," said Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken at a press conference on Monday.
Cases, which hit a record high of 19,360 active cases throughout the state on November 15 with a positivity rate of over 20%, have been steadily dropping since then, hitting a low of 5,696 active cases statewide on December 31.
On Tuesday, active cases were back up slightly at 6,034. Minnehaha County had 1,492 active cases on Tuesday. Recoveries were listed at 93,529 cases.
Unfortunately, December set a new record as the deadliest month for the pandemic, with 542 people losing their lives to COVID-19. November saw 521 lives lost. By Tuesday, a total of 1,513 deaths had been reported since the pandemic first hit South Dakota, giving the state a rate of 1.5% deaths in diagnosed cases.
In all, 1 in 9 South Dakotans have now been confirmed positive with COVID-19, and cases have ranged from completely without symptoms to severe flu-like symptoms to hospitalization or death.
Since the virus often attacks the lungs, many of the people hospitalized are admitted due to an inability to breathe.
On Tuesday, 5,764 South Dakotans in all had been hospitalized at some point during their experience with COVID-19. Two hundred seventy (270) people in South Dakota were currently hospitalized, which was down about 50% from the beginning of December.
Public health officials have been struggling with keeping hospitalization and fatality rates low, especially over the holidays, as millions of people traveled to visit family.
Rates in the United States as a whole have been climbing. On Tuesday, Johns Hopkins reported that the US officially had 20,977,966 total cases since reporting began, and 356,203 deaths. Thousands of people are dying daily, and hospitals around the country are overwhelmed.
In South Dakota, numbers have been improving.
"The pandemic continues, with some better news," said Dr. Mike Wilde of Sanford on Monday, "but certainly still with some very significant consequences for those affected, both directly and indirectly."
He noted that around 30 patients were experiencing prolonged hospitalization due to COVID-19 but were no longer requiring isolation. Sanford and Avera in Sioux Falls had a combined total of 148 COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Mike Basel of Avera cautioned that cases started to rise again this week, and wanted to ensure mitigation measures continued. He asked that all residents continue to wear masks and social distance.
Vaccinations are continuing in force, and South Dakota leads per-capita with administration of doses. As of Tuesday, 27,260 people had received their first dose, and by Tuesday, second doses were scheduled to be started. Dr Basel pointed out that as soon as the state is receiving its vaccine doses, it's getting them into recipients almost immediately.
Health care workers were first to be offered the vaccine, followed by long-term care residents. South Dakota has officially moved into Phase 1C, which includes EMS/Frontline public health workers, law enforcement, and correctional facility personnel.
Dr. Wilde said a website would soon be available that will provide more information on how to obtain the vaccine.
"People have been very accepting and accommodating," Dr. Wilde said on Monday with regards to vaccinations. He encourages people to get the vaccine as soon as they are eligible, and noted it's been very safe so far. At Sanford, only 15 recipients have needed further evaluation out of 15,000 vaccines given.
"If you look at that in comparison with 15,000 people who have had COVID, that certainly favors the vaccine and its safety," Dr. Wilde said. For reference, South Dakota had a combined total of 15,000 positive cases by September 6, with 173 deaths and 1,079 total people hospitalized.
Dr. Basel reminded people that the vaccine doesn't necessarily give people a "get out of jail free card."
"You still have to wear your mask, continue to social distance," he said. "Because we know that it [the vaccine] will protect you from getting seriously ill because it primes your immune system to fight off when it sees it again. It's gonna take you a little bit of time for you to fight that virus off. During that time period, you may still be able to transmit it to others, so you still may be contagious during that time period. So that's why, even after you've had the illness or you've had a vaccine, you still need to social distance and wear a mask."
He's optimistic that guidelines will change as more data becomes available.
"We have to get enough people vaccinated so it's eliminated in our community. Then we can open everything back up again," Dr. Basel said.
