Officials Investigating Possible Community Spread in Beadle County
State officials are investigating whether community spread of COVID-19 is taking place in Beadle County. Authorities are announcing three new cases there, bringing the county’s total up to four. That brings the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota to 14. Officials say the infectious disease team will investigate those new cases.
Kim Malsam-Rhysdon is the Secretary for the Department of Health. She describes how the team conducts investigations after a positive test result.
“Once the patient is notified by their provider, Department of Heath staff contact the positive person,” Malsam-Rhysdon says. “Then we start an interview process where we learn more about their situation, understand what kind of symptoms they might be experiencing at that time. Make sure they’re following their provider’s recommendation. We do extensive interviewing to get to any people they would have come into close contact with.”
Two of the new cases in Beadle County are males, one is female. They’re in their 30’s, 40’s and 60’s. Two have reported travelling outside of the state. Governor Kristi Noem says she’s encouraged that of the 94 high priority tests conducted Thursday, only three came back positive.
“We knew we could possibly see a bigger increase. We were thankful to see that many of the actions we are taking are obviously working,” Noem says. “We’re looking forward to continuing those processes. When we learn new information, we obviously could make adjustments. Today, we will stay on course and be faithful to what we’ve already laid out as the path to protect our people’s health.”
Noem indicated that her office and legislative leadership are in conversations about legislative options to address the COVID-19 outbreak. Veto day is March 30th.
Retailers Adjust to Changing Needs
Retailers are adjusting to meet the demand of certain supplies during the coronavirus crisis. South Dakota businesses aim to adjust their hours to restock goods as well as sanitize their stores.
When President Trump announced a national emergency in response to the coronavirus, people drove to stores to buy and stock up on supplies. Posts circulating online show empty shelves of food and toilet paper. Nathan Sanderson is the executive director for the South Dakota Retailers Association. He says the supplies are there, they’re just not on-site.
“Products are continuing to be manufactured. They're continuing to be stored in wholesale locations, warehouses—they're continuing to move to retail businesses. The pictures that you see are of course that there's a high demand in those retail businesses. Well, just because the product is out today doesn't mean that it's going to be out tomorrow, and it takes a little bit of time to move those products through the supply chain.”
Bigger retailers like Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee are shortening their hours to stock the shelves and clean their stores. Hy-Vee spokeswoman Christina Gayman says the company is trying to keep up with customer demand.
“While we are constantly receiving shipments of all the things that people are looking for, they're also purchasing them a lot faster than they typically would. So, we are in constant communication with our supply channels to ensure that those products just keep coming on the trucks.”
Gayman says over the past week, stores have seen an increase in online, delivery and pickup services.
Sioux Falls Childcare Options Expanding for Emergency Responders
The City of Sioux Falls, Sanford Health, the Good Samaritan Society and Avera are collaborating with other partners to offer child care options during the coronavirus pandemic.
The options are dedicated to first responders and health care workers who interact directly with the public. That includes physicians, nurses, clinic receptionists and others.
Parents can enroll in the Child Care Cooperative by visiting the Sioux Empire Boys and Girls Club website. Children and childcare providers are screened for COVID-19 symptoms before entry.
In a press release, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken says, “Frontline health care workers and first responders are needed at their workplace during this outbreak.” He goes on to say resources are available despite school and daycare closures, and he’s proud so many partners can collaborate for the good of the city.
Hy-Vee Implementing Changes to Protect Employees and Customers
Grocery stores across South Dakota are implementing new operational changes as it responds to growing concerns about COVID-19. Stores like Fareway and Hy-Vee are reserving one hour each day for people more easily susceptible to the coronavirus.
Tina Potthoff is the vice president of communications at Hy-Vee. She says stores are also implementing barriers at their checkout areas.
“We’ve installed a plexiglass shield. It’s a temporary barrier as we are all going through this time, but it will be in front of the customer and it will be in front of the cashier. As you’re doing the transaction, you do have more of a barrier that is there versus on just relying and keeping your fingers crossed on the spacing issues.”
Potthoff says stores are additionally banning reusable bags temporarily to limit contact between employee and customer.
Christina Gayman is a spokeswoman with Hy-Vee. She says there’s demand from customers considered “high-risk”.
“Based on customer requests, we’ve found that a lot of our customers would like to see this and so we're implementing that.”
Store chains are also limiting their hours to clean and restock their stores.
South Dakota Farmers Staying Positive
For many South Dakota businesses, things are far from normal. But despite the coronavirus pandemic, many of the state’s farmers and ranchers are making plans for the upcoming season.
Charles Baron is the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer for the Farmers Business Network. He says he’s had dozens of conversations recently with farmers all over the nation. So far, the virus hasn’t introduced many new factors into the business decisions farmers make
"The challenges that they face, that the corona epidemic has created in the business environment have been manageable or typical business risks for farmers. So lower prices on the corn, hog prices going down, so it’s pricing pressure thus far – it hasn’t been fundamental supply change disruption."
Baron makes light of the fact that the farming lifestyle already includes social distancing. Most farmers he’s talked with aren’t making major personal adjustments. However, Baron says farmers are still very concerned about the health crisis and its potential affect on the global food supply.