PIERRE, S.D. (DRG News) – Some early research into COVID-19 led scientists and medical providers around the globe to think once a person had it, their body would build resistance and they wouldn’t get it again.

Now, South Dakota State epidemiologist Dr. Josh Clayton says researchers are finding out that may not be the case.

Clayton says there have been instances in South Dakota where a person has tested positive more than once.

Clayton says if a person tests positive for coronavirus after being considered recovered, they are counted as a new case.

To date, 54 South Dakotans have died because of COVID-19.