Governor Noem says nearly 1,500 Smithfield employees and household members participated in the first day of mass-testing for COVID-19 on Monday. The temporary drive-through site is in the Washington High School Parking lot in Sioux Falls.
She says the CDC is calling the event a success.
“We averaged three people per car although some of the vehicles had 6-8 individuals in them that requested to be tested. It took about two minutes per individual to run a test, and according to the Avera team, that estimate is approximately ten percent of the individuals tested did have symptoms," Noem outlined in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Noem says those test results are still pending and testing at that site will continue for the next several days.
The Smithfield meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls shut down in mid-April after a COVID-19 outbreak. Some employees returned to work on Monday. The company is not requiring employees to be tested for COVID-19 before returning to work in the plant.
