COVID-19 Cases Grow 138 to 868
The South Dakota Department of Health is confirming 868 cases of COVID-19. That’s an increase of 138 new cases from Sunday.
That total includes 44 people hospitalized…207 recovered, and six who’ve died.
Cases in Minnehaha County continue to increase at a fast past. That county saw a single day increase of 127 positive cases, bringing its overall total to 654.
Employees of the Smithfield meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls now account for 350 of those cases in Minnehaha County. The CEO of Smithfield says the processing plant is closing indefinitely.
Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHanken is calling for a shutdown of Minnehaha and Lincoln counties for three weeks. He says the time is now, while hospitalizations are low.
Governor Kristi Noem says her office is looking at that, but that a shutdown should get implemented at the appropriate time.
SD Launching First Statewide Trial of Hydroxychloroquine
South Dakota is launching the first statewide trial of a possible treatment for COVID-19 in the nation. The trial drug typically treats malaria, Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
President Donald Trump has pointed to hydroxychloroquine as a potential therapeutic for COVID-19, though its effectiveness has not yet been confirmed.
Governor Noem says she’s been asking the president and other members of his administration to allow South Dakota to launch a statewide trial. This weekend, the state received a shipment of the drug.
Noem says a trial usually needs about two-thousand participants.
“We can treat up to 100-thousand people with the amount of doses we have in the state of South Dakota.”
All three of the state’s major healthcare systems are on board. Dr. Allison Suttle is the chief medical officer for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. She says researchers are learning hydroxychloroquine may prevent viruses from entering a person’s cells.
“The only way a virus works is if it can infect another person and another person and another person. So if we can stop the virus from entering the human cell, we can stop the virus from spreading.”
Dr. Suttle says there are multiple trials ongoing. There are in-patient and out-patient trials for patients who test positive for COVID-19, and there’s a clinical trial for high risk people who’ve been exposed to the virus.
“So now that the state has been able to get enough samples of the medication, every South Dakotan who has COVID-19 can have that discussion with their physician: ‘Am I a candidate? Am I a good option to receive hydroxychloroquine to help fight this disease?’”
Dr. Suttle says the trials won’t impact the drug’s supply for people who use it to treat other conditions.
Lane Cafe Exposure Wider than First Thought
The state Department of Health has updated information on a positive COVID-19 case reported last week. The department now says an employee at the Lane Café worked more shifts while contagious than originally reported.
Customers who visited the café in Lane from April 1st through April 6th should monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days after the day of their visit.
Lane is a town in Jerauld County in eastern South Dakota. The town sits between Wessington Springs and Woonsocket.
COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. People should call their healthcare provider if they develop these symptoms.
Two Sioux Falls Walmart Employees Test Positive
The state Department of Health is announcing two employees at two different Walmart locations in Sioux Falls have tested positive for COVID-19. Both employees reported working while able to transmit the coronavirus.
Customers who visited the Walmart location on Arrowhead Parkway between April 4th through April 7th should monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days after the day of their visit.
Others who visited the location on Minnesota Avenue South between April 4th and April 5th should monitor for symptoms as well.
COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. People should call their healthcare provider if they develop these symptoms.
Monument Health Official on Vaccine Development
Treatments and vaccines will be critical for the long term fight against the novel corona virus. South Dakota healthcare organizations are taking part in state wide clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.
Dr. Shankar Kurra is Vice President of Medical Affairs at Monument Health. He told SDPB’s In the Moment that clinical trials are essential but cautions that small trials do not always produce treatments or cures.
“What’s more exciting right now is the vaccine trials because those are actually pretty advanced and I think we could see a vaccine in a year or so and that would be a real game changer for the long term treatment – or prevention actually – of this virus.”
Kurra says phase one trials are already underway for a vaccine to neutralize the virus. He says it will take at least year to make sure any vaccine is safe.