Five cases and one coronavirus death reported in South Dakota

PIERRE, S.D. (KBHB) — South Dakota went from no COVID-19 cases to a possible five with one death in a matter of 24 hours.

South Dakota officials Tuesday announced the first positive cases of COVID-19 in the state.

Governor Kristi Noem and the South Dakota Department of Health announced five cases in which the person tested had a positive result for the virus. One of those involved a person in Pennington County, age 60-69, who died. That person had underlying medial conditions and testing is being done to determine if COVID-19 is responsible.

The other four cases are in Minnehaha, Beadle, Charles Mix and Davison County. Health Department Secretary Kim Malsom-Rysdon discusses the cases.

Gov. Noem says they the cases are all travel related and they are working to identify additional people who came in close contact with them.

She says they will partially active the state emergency operations center and in the meantime is asking citizens to take common sense steps to prevent the spread of the virus.

The State Health Department has a website that will update people on the virus. It is COVID.SD.GOV.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.