South Dakota COVID-19 Positives Now at 288
South Dakota has 48 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The statewide total is now 288.
That total includes 23 hospitalizations, 4 deaths and 91 people now fully recovered.
Minnehaha County has 36 new cases for a new total of 140. Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties encompass the Sioux Falls city limits. Together they hold more than half of the state’s confirmed cases.
Other counties with new cases include Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Codington, Lincoln and Yankton.
Sioux Falls Mayor Issues "Safer at Home" Proclamation
Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken is issuing what he calls a “Safer at Home” proclamation to curb the spread of the coronavirus. More than half of the state’s total COVID-19 cases are in and around the city.
The proclamation includes guidelines for businesses and families. It encourages residents to stay at home and limit grocery store visits to one trip a week from one household member. In line with the most recent CDC guidelines, the proclamation also encourages anyone over two years old without breathing difficulties to wear cloth masks in public.
The proclamation recommends that businesses not already under restrictions, allow occupancy that’s 20 percent of their fire-code limits.
Mayor TenHaken says the proclamation offers clearer guidelines but is not legally enforceable.
“These are what I would call executive mayoral recommendations from our office that we’re asking the public to take. We’ve done well with the soft recommendations. we’re taking it a step further with what we call an executive proclamation.”
In its meeting tomorrow/Tuesday, the Sioux Falls City Council is expected to extend an existing ordinance that limits certain businesses to ten or fewer patrons inside at a time. If it passes, the extension runs through April 22nd.
Noem Closes South Dakota Schools for the Remainder of the Year
All K-12 schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year. Governor Kristi Noem says it doesn’t make sense to bring students back to their classrooms in light of current projections of COVID-19 infections.
The governor says the state Department of Education will continue working with school administrators on distance learning through the end of the year.
“I know this is gonna be hard for a lot of people. we’ve got a lot of seniors that really didn’t know that their year would end like this. They didn’t know that they would have a very different kind of high school experience than what they anticipated. We’ve got a high school senior myself who’s looking at a very different senior year than what he’d anticipated.”
Shortly after the governor’s announcement, the South Dakota Board of Regents announced all public universities will continue with online-only classes through the summer term.
Noem Issues Executive Orders for Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties
Governor Noem has issued an executive order that urges some citizens in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties to stay home for the next three weeks. The request includes adults over 65 and people with chronic conditions to limit their exposure to the coronavirus.
Noem says data shows these people are at greatest risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
“Nationwide, eight out of ten deaths have been reported in adults that are 65 years old and older. In South Dakota, three of our four deaths have been in this category as well. Two-thirds of our positive cases are in Lincoln and Minnehaha Counties right now.”
The governor says half of the South Dakotans hospitalized with COVID-19 have chronic health conditions. They include lung disease …heart conditions…diabetes…and people with suppressed immune systems.
“This group of individuals needs to take this very seriously. I need this group in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties to stay home. For the next three weeks that is your directive through this executive order—is to stay home.”
Noem says the executive order does NOT prevent people from going outside. She says it’s an order to comply with social distancing and other CDC guidelines. More than 160 city and county officials have asked the governor to declare a statewide public health emergency.
SDHSAA Cancels High School Activities for Remainder of the Year
The state activities association has canceled the rest of the South Dakota high school sports season. Schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, and that led to the decision.
Dan Swartos is the Executive Director of the association. He says this was one of the most difficult choices he and his staff have had to make.
"It’s tough for everyone involved. It’s difficult, but those kids learned a lot of lessons throughout their high school career and through high school activities. And those lessons and the friendships they’ve made, it’ll stick with them forever. "
Ten days ago, the activities association had discussed a possible plan to play all six of its high school state basketball tournaments in June. However, the plan required that students would be allowed back into the school buildings in May.
Rapid City Mayor Allender Encouraged Health Systems Support State Data
Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender is encouraged that the state’s three major healthcare systems support state data on the spread of coronavirus. Representatives from Sanford, Avera, and Monument Health joined Governor Noem last week when she shared the state’s projections. The numbers include how many I-C-U beds and ventilators the state will need when it reaches peak infection rates.
On SDPB’s In the Moment program, Allender says having a unified model is important in a state known for individuality.
“The number one goal in South Dakota right now relative to this disease should be preventing our hospital systems from being overrun.”
Allender says fatality rates will rise if the hospital system is overwhelmed.
“Not only from COVID-19 but from things that wouldn’t necessarily have to be in that higher fatality rate. You know, the tyical cardiac conditions and breathing problems and cancer and all kinds of things that are pretty well mitigated normally.”
Allender continues to push for a statewide public health emergency declaration to give local authorities more guidance. He agrees with the governor that primary responsibility for personal safety falls to individuals.
Deadwood Casinos Ineligible for Emergency Payroll Loans
Deadwood casino operators hoping for a lifeline from Congress say they are not eligible for emergency payroll loans. That leaves almost 1 million dollars in weekly payroll unpaid in a city that’s dependent on gambling.
Congress passed a $2 trillion economic rescue package. It includes a $350 billion pot of money called the Payroll Protection Program. But there are pre-existing laws and policies. They prohibit the Small Business Administration from lending to businesses that get more than a third of their revenue from gambling. That includes Deadwood’s casinos, which are temporarily closed because of the coronavirus.
Mike Rodman is with the Deadwood Gaming Association. He says many of the 12-hundred people in Deadwood who work in the gambling industry are out of work, and much of the industry’s 900-thousand-dollar weekly payroll is going unpaid.
“We want to keep these people on the payroll. There’s a lot of talent. You know, we want to keep them, and we want to be able to, as quickly as we’re able to, reopen, charge back and be open and take care of our customers.”
Tribal casinos are also affected. U.S. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota is working on the problem. He’s asking the SBA and the U.S. Treasury to change their interim ruling on the situation.
"We think they’ve made a mistake, and we’re expecting that they’ll reconsider their decision.”
If the ruling doesn’t change, Rounds says he’ll pursue a fix in the next big congressional coronavirus bill, whenever that comes together.
Electric Co-Ops Make Adjustments for COVID-19
About three dozen electric cooperatives in South Dakota power the state’s homes and businesses. They are changing their workflow to meet critical needs for power during the pandemic.
Dick Johnson says electric co-ops are vital. Johnson is the C-E-O and general manager of West River Electric, which serves more than 45-hundred square miles.
“This day and age, there's no way, or it's very difficult to operate or live without electricity. We depend on it on our daily lives very, very much.”
Johnson says hospitals and clinics require utilities like electricity more than ever.
East River Electric Cooperative is one of just three wholesale power co-ops in the state. Chris Studer says they are already isolating employees to curb spread of the coronavirus.
“What we've done is we've looked at our field crews and we've split linemen into separate crews so that they are, able to take trucks home, bring trucks to a job site, so that they're not crossing paths with other crews.”
Studer says crews stagger their hours each day to minimize exposure with other workers. And the co-op has a separate building for other employees.
There are other changes as well. Non-essential businesses are temporarily closing operations. West River Electric’s Dick Johnson says because of that, he expects revenue for co-ops will drop this year.
“The amount that you use in a residence is vastly different than a commercial account. So, if you shut down a business for a period of time, you'd take a lot of residential to make up for the usage for that commercial account. So, there won't be a wash there, I don't believe. I think we're definitely going to see our sales down this year. There’s no doubt about that.”
Johnson says they expect these changes to have a lasting impact in the long run.