PIERRE, SD- Medical experts say the best way to control the spread of the coronavirus is by expanded testing and tracing contacts of those found positive.
South Dakota Department of Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon says they have a big team dedicated to tracing those positive contacts.
“We have 131 individuals who are a part of our contact tracing and positive case notification process,” shares Malsam-Rysdon. “ All labs that process Covid-19 tests are required to report any positive cases of South Dakota residents to the South Dakota Department of Health. That’s the same requirement if that test is conducted in the state or someplace else.”
Malsam-Rysdon says the team tries to follow all the contacts they can.
“Once we have that investigation completed we have a team of folks notifying those close contacts,” she explains. “We have to search for phone numbers, search for addresses and so we have folks who are dedicated towards doing that. We make contact those as soon as we can.”
She is asking people to answer calls from their department.
“If you’re getting a phone call from the Department of Health, please pick up,” she shares. “We want to reach you to share information with you so that you can be safe and you can keep other people safe. She adds, >I’m respectfully asking folks to work with us so that we can help contain the spread of COVD-19.”
The state has now recorded over twenty-two hundred positive cases with 17 deaths. Over twelve hundred people have recovered.
