COVID-19 hits South Dakota, Causes Closures
by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
The coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19 has been the main headline throughout the past several weeks. Last week, the consequences were hitting South Dakota and the US as a whole.
On March 10, it was announced that five people in South Dakota had confirmed diagnoses of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. At that time, there was one recorded death, of a 60-69 year old male from Pennington County. On March 11, the West Central School District closed for deep cleaning to help prevent the spread of this novel virus due to a positive diagnosis in a parent. The dominoes kept falling throughout the week, with social distancing measures becoming increasingly pertinent.
On Friday, President Trump declared a National Emergency, and Governor Kristi Noem requested all schools in SD close for one week, and on Tuesday, March 17, she announced a further week of closure was needed. Garretson Schools soon announced their closures, and Palisades Healthcare closed its doors to all visitors until further notice.
By March 17, 11 people were diagnosed positive throughout South Dakota, with 5 of those cases being listed in Minnehaha County.
COVID-19 is caused by a "novel virus," which means that this version of the coronavirus has not been seen among the general population before. Due to this, immunity is low and the potential for virulent spread is high. At press time, the virus was not found in community spread in South Dakota, meaning all cases had been diagnosed in people who had traveled outside the state. This is expected to change soon. The likelihood that healthcare systems get overwhelmed is also high, meaning that ethical calls such as who receives ventilators, could have to be made. Italy, which is trending 10-14 days ahead of the US in its number of cases, saw its healthcare system overwhelmed last week.
Mortality appears to be highest for those aged 65+ and those with underlying medical issues, especially those with compromised immune systems and those with lung or cardiovascular issues. COVID-19 affects respiratory systems most of all, causing shortness of breath, coughing, and pneumonia-like symptoms.
The CDC states, "Reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure: fever, cough, shortness of breath."
Reports have shown that people can be highly infectious well before they start showing symptoms, and many have been entirely asymptomatic. Incubation periods range from 2-14 days, but some studies have shown continued infectiousness even after symptoms have passed.
Last week, Italy shut down all non-essential travel and had banned group gatherings, and the US started following suit, especially after sports stars such as Utah Jazz basketball player Rudy Gobert tested positive.
Throughout last week, colleges and universities in the US were closing all in-person learning opportunities, and major events were canceled. By Monday this week, the SD Board of Regents had asked all public universities to move to online learning by March 23. SDSU, the SD School of Mines, and USD quickly followed those recommendations. Augustana University and USF made the call to extend their spring breaks at least one more week.
The Garretson School District, after releasing an initial letter on March 11 discussing prevention measures, followed the governor’s request on Friday and closed its doors after school let out.
They used Monday and Tuesday this week to restructure lessons and curriculum for distance learning, and will proceed as needed throughout these upcoming weeks. In his letter to the parents and students of the high school and middle school, Principal Chris Long outlined expectations that learning objectives will be moving forward. As of press time, the school was also providing grab-and-go lunches for students in need through Thursday of this week.
Superintendent Guy Johnson stated in his letter to the parents of Garretson School students, “We will continue to adjust our planning based on the best information that becomes available and will communicate those adjustment with you as we are able to. As we have stated before, the situation is changing rapidly, and we will work with the best information we have from the CDC, the SD DOH, and a variety of other experts from the medical field to keep our students and staff as healthy and safe as we are able to.”
The South Dakota High School Activities Association has postponed or canceled all events until at least April, with reports that practices are left up to the decision of individual schools.
Churches also started to reduce or eliminate activities. In Garretson, Zion Lutheran Church and the United Church of Garretson made the decision not to hold its Sunday services or activities until March 27th. Renovation Church moved its services to O So Good and then to an on-line-only format for this coming Sunday. St. Rose canceled its Wednesday evening activities for this week. Other churches proceeded as normal, with the encouragement that those who are ill or concerned about becoming ill stay home, and have made changes to communion, passing of the peace, and offering.
As of Tuesday this week, CHS had canceled its planned Chili Feed benefit, and was encouraging supporters to order raffle tickets to help support the Food Pantry. O So Good had announced that they were suspending all eat-in dining for the next two weeks and transitioning to carryout and delivery only, with this week’s hours as Thursday through Saturday at 4:30-8:00 pm daily, and the two weeks after that will be Tuesday through Saturday evenings. Dollar General is limiting their hours to 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily, and encouraging senior citizens and high-risk individuals to shop during the first hour past opening.
The City of Garretson does have a contingency plan for the pandemic, but they were not ready to make it public as of press time. Mayor Greg Beaner states that right now, the City is following all Federal and State protocols. They have limited visitors at City Hall to only staff and necessary visitors, and request all other items of business be taken care of by phone or email. The City Council discussed holding its April meeting via an on-line format such as Zoom, and will be updating the public as that information becomes available.
The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is handwashing, and if you are feeling ill, to stay home. Those who have been exposed knowingly to COVID-19 may have to quarantine for up to two weeks, so some preparation is key. As some panic has occurred, grocery stores are finding it difficult to keep some essentials such as toilet paper in stock, so it is important to keep from over-buying. Purchase only what is needed for two weeks.
Expect more disturbances to public life as the virus moves through the area, such as cancellations of other events, and possibly the temporary closure of restaurants and bars. However, with level-headed thinking and preparation, most people will likely move through this without issue. But keeping community-protection in mind, protecting our most vulnerable, has to stay at the forefront.
