Statewide Total Grows to 2,245 Cases
South Dakota Department of Health officials report 33 new COVID-19 cases. That brings the statewide total to 2,245 cases.
That total includes 918 active cases, 1,316 people who’ve fully recovered and 11 people who have died.
Most of the new cases are in Minnehaha County. Other counties with smaller increases are Douglas, Lincoln, Stanley and Yankton.
State Employees Flex Into New Roles
The state is tapping state employees, Department of Health and other agencies, as well as the National Guard to perform contact tracing.
Secretary of the Department of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon says 131 people are contact tracers who reach out to those who test positive for COVID-19 and anyone they may have been in contact with…
“We have a multitude of different people working on various aspects of this and feed very good about the training we’ve been able to put into place so that we can maintain those efforts,” Malsam-Rysdon says. “They’re going to be critical as we move forward.”
The state is reporting a total number of positive cases of the disease at two thousand one hundred and forty seven. 61 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Ten people have died.
Rounds Comments on President's Disinfectant Suggestion
South Dakota US Senator Mike Rounds says President Trump’s suggestion of injecting disinfectants to combat the coronavirus should NOT be taken literally. During a White House press conference on Thursday, President Trump suggested disinfectants might be used internally to combat the coronavirus.
Rounds says the president’s statements came across incorrectly.
“I truly don’t believe the president intended for it to come out that way, I just don’t believe he did,” Rounds says. “I think he’s saying ‘Look, if there are some things within Lysol that we can go in and do some more research on that kind of stuff. Is there something in it that can be used in the future as a therapeutic?’ I think he’s musing about all of the different opportunities that are out there. I’ll add my voice to those who say do not take that literally.”
Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the manufacturers of Lysol, one common household disinfectant, strongly suggest never to apply or ingest the product. President Trump has rolled back his comments, saying he was “being sarcastic.”
Park Jefferson Races without Fans Present
It was a quiet night at the races. That’s according to the Park Jefferson International Speedway owner in North Sioux City, who held the race without attendees.
Very few people were in attendance. There were no fans in the grandstand. Only safety personnel, track officials and 62 cars. Adam Adamson is the owner of the Park Jefferson racetrack. He says the races held Saturday night were interesting.
“My announcer told me he’d never announced to so few people since he was back announcing little league baseball games when he was about 13 years old.”
But the fans were in attendance in a different way. Adamson says thousands were tuned in online. The park initially planned on allowing 700 attendees into the speedway, saying that would allow for ample space between fans at the venue that can hold 4,000. Governor Kristi Noem asked people not to attend. South Dakota is one of a handful of states without a stay at home order. Adamson says the race brought respite to race fans living in a COVID-19 ravaged world, if only for a moment.
“For a few hours they had a chance to feel like things were normal again in our world,” Adamson says. “The fact that we live in such crazy times right now—it was nice for us to be involved in giving fans a chance to be part of a normal situation where they would sit down on a Saturday night, be it in person or online, and tune in and watch some really great racecar drivers put on a show for the fans.”
Adamson says he thought they represented the state of South Dakota well and the COVID-19 requests governor has issued. He says the decision not to allow attendees was the right call.