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Description
COVID-19 Briefing for the City of Watertown, SD - 04-16-2020
A
B
Thank
you
today
is
April
16
2020
and
in
our
state
we
have
a
total
of
1,300
11
cases.
There
have
been
seven
deaths
in
South
Dakota
Coddington
County
is
steady
with
13
same
as
yesterday.
13
cases
11
recovered.
Our
goal
through
this
is
to
protect
our
vulnerable
population
and
we
hope
to
do
that
at
least
until
a
vaccine
is
developed.
B
This
is
an
extremely
contagious
virus,
and
so
that's
why
the
social
distancing
is
so
important.
We
do
not
think
that
we're
going
to
be
shutting
businesses
down
until
we
have
a
vaccine
and
that's
just
not
probably
physically
possible,
but
so
far
what
we're
doing
seems
to
be
working.
The
City
Council
took
action
on
March
23rd
that
closed
a
lot
of
businesses
in
town
and
that
ordinance
will
automatically
be
expired
on
May
23rd.
B
So
if
the
council
doesn't
do
anything,
it
will
automatically
go
away,
but
they
can
put
in
further
controls
or
they
could
lift
controls
and
they're
talking
about
it
constantly.
So,
if
you
have
an
opinion
about
this,
I
would
encourage
you
to
reach
out
to
your
councilmember
and
share
your
opinion
with
them.
They
they
they
are
considering.
This
very
carefully
it's
a
difficult
decision.
What
we
have
right
now
seems
to
be
the
calm
before
the
storm.
B
That's
what
everybody's
calling
it
and
we
don't
know
what
the
storm
is
going
to
be
like,
but
we
feel
pretty
well
prepared
for
it.
I
feel
very
fortunate
to
live
in
this
community,
where
we
have
such
an
incredible
health
care
system
and
such
a
great
team
of
people
who
are
working
together
to
be
prepared
for
the
storm
once
it
arrives.
So
with
that
I
would
like
to
introduce
Casey
Devore
he's
the
oh
of
prairie
lakes,
healthcare
system.
C
Thank
you,
Mary
Karen,
good
afternoon
everybody
I'm
going
to
talk
about
a
couple
things
this
afternoon.
I
want
to
talk
about
the
South
Dakota
Department,
Health's
modeling,
on
the
pandemic
in
South
Dakota,
and
then
I'll
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
Cova
19
testing
capability.
That's
been
brought
to
Watertown
and
prey
Lakes.
C
First
off
yesterday,
if
you
watched
the
governor,
she
talked
quite
a
bit
about
how
the
activities
of
the
citizens
of
South
Dakota
has
really
flattened
our
curve
for
the
disease
and
that
her
office,
even
though
we've
seen
that
change
is
still
planning
towards
needing
up
to
5,000
hospital
beds
per
day
during
the
peak
and
up
to
1,300
ventilators
per
day
during
the
peak.
Now.
She
also
shared
yesterday
that
the
expected
surge
peak
is
now
anticipated
to
be
closer
to
2,500
hospitalized
patients
per
day
and
650
ventilators
per
day.
C
If
the
current
mitigation
strategies
that
you're
all
living
with
continue
as
they
are
now
I,
think
it's
really
important
to
understand
how
key
that
is
to
the
projections
of
the
state
is
making
is
that
we
have
to
keep
doing
what
we're
doing.
Prairie
lakes
has
been
working
with
the
state,
as
well
as
with
our
partners
in
the
community
with
the
modeling
data
they've.
C
Provided
us,
the
state
has
told
us
that,
in
their
worst
case
scenario,
that
5,000
hospitalized
patients
today,
we
in
prey
Lakes
and
Watertown
need
to
be
prepared
to
take
care
of
up
to
a
hundred
and
seventy-two
hospitalized
patients
each
day
during
our
peak.
That
is
six
to
seven
times
the
normal
number
of
patients.
We
see
at
prairie
lakes
on
any
given
day.
So
that's
quite
a
stretch
for
us,
but
we
have
worked
really
hard
to
determine
where
we
could.
C
Anticipated
are
going
down
because
it
really
shows
that
this
social
distancing,
we've
all
been
working
through,
has
had
a
positive
impact
on
hospitalized
patients.
So
we
joined
the
governor
and
the
mayor
and
encouraging
you
to
continue
to
stay
home
and
socially
distance,
as
this
will
continue
to
drive
that
curve
down
even
further
the
more
patients
we
can
keep
from
being
hostile
eyes
in
this
epidemic.
The
better
off
we're
all
gonna
be
the
second
item.
I
wanted
to
talk
to.
You
was
very
exciting
news
from
the
state.
C
Yesterday,
the
Secretary
of
Health
and
the
governor
announced
that
they
were
placing
kovat
19
testing
equipment
throughout
the
state.
Prairie
Lakes
was
lucky
enough
to
get
one
of
those
pieces
of
equipment
that
will
allow
us,
for
the
first
time
during
this
pandemic,
to
do
testing
for
the
virus.
Here
in
the
community,
like
I
said,
that's
a
pretty
major
development
I
will
really
impact
the
care
we're
providing
to
patients.
C
It'll
also
allow
us
to
really
have
a
much
better
understanding
of
the
presence
of
the
disease
in
our
community
and
care
for
the
sick
patients
that
present
to
the
hospital.
We
will
be
using
the
similar
testing
criteria
as
the
South
Dakota
State
lab
is
using
when
they
determine
who
will
and
will
not
be
tested
that
won't
change.
C
We
will
be
testing
in
patients
and
symptomatic
healthcare
workers,
as
well
as
long-term
care
patients
as
our
first
and
top
priorities,
and
then
we
will
work
from
there.
We
can
still
send
tests
out
of
the
community
to
the
other
reference
labs.
We
use,
but
those
would
be
the
patients
that
we
will
be
focusing
on
for
our
in-house
testing.
All
patients
that
are
tested
require
a
physician's
order
and
that
physician
has
to
demonstrate
or
show
on
the
requisition
form
what
symptoms
the
patient
has
when
they
present
to
be
tested.
C
The
equipment
came
to
us
with
a
limited
number
of
test
kits
under
a
hundred
that
we
will
be
judicious
in
our
use.
The
state
has
said
they
will
work
to
resupply
us.
We
don't
know,
and
they
don't
know
at
this
point-
how
that
supply
chain
will
look
like
how
regularly
they'll
be
able
to
resupply
us.
So
we're
going
to
be
very
careful
how
we
use
these.
C
At
this
time
it
will
be
operational
and
again
we
thank
the
state
for
the
opportunity
to
have
our
lab,
provide
this
testing
for
this
community
in
this
region
and
again,
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you
for
staying
home
and
staying
well,
socially,
distancing
and
washing
your
hands
and
covering
your
face
when
you're
out
in
public.
So
thank
you
very
much
and
I'd
like
to
introduce
dr.
Dan,
reef
and
Berger,
or
dr.
Dan,
as
he's
commonly
known
at
the
brown
clinic
and
he'd,
be
glad
to
share
some
additional
information
with
you.
Thank
you.
D
Thanks
Casey,
it's
great
working
with
you
again.
After
all,
we
did
graduate
together
back
in
Sioux
Falls
that
was
many
years
ago,
and
we
both
had
a
lot
more
hair
back
at
that
time.
But
the
one
thing
that
least
has
come
to
light.
Is
we
both
realized?
It
was
the
good
thing
was
to
move
back
to
Watertown,
where
we're
here
to
stay
so
I
want
to.
For
those
of
you
who
know
me
normally,
I
could
stand
up
here
and
just
free
flow
with
everything
with
it.
D
But
I
have
some
very
specific
points
that
I
want
to
make
today
and
I
want
to
make
sure
that
I'm
not
going
to
leave
anything
out
or
forget
anything.
So
once
again,
I
want
to
reiterate
the
criteria
for
testing.
Okay
includes
having
either
a
cough
or
a
fever
greater
than
a
hundred
point
four
or
shortness
of
breath,
and
if
you
are
hospitalized
a
resident
or
of
a
long-term
care
facility
or
a
healthcare
worker,
those
are
the
people
are
going
to
have
the
highest
priority
of
getting
tested.
D
First,
other
considerations
to
include
are
those
that
have
had
direct
exposure
to
anyone
who
has
had
Kove
at
19
or
tested
positive
for
this.
We
still
need
to
adhere
to
those
CDC
recommendations
in
order
to
optimize
the
usage
and
availability
of
what
we
have
for
collection
of
those
samples
to
forward
on
to
testing
okay,
yelling
and
screaming
at
us
swearing
at
us,
which
has
been
happening.
Okay,
that
is
not
gonna,
solve
anything
or
is
not
going
to
make
any
difference
on
whether
or
not
you're
gonna
qualify
to
have
a
sample
collected
to
be
tested.
D
Okay,
there
is
still
a
nationwide
shortage
of
material
to
collect
those
samples
for
testing.
Nothing
has
changed
in
this
regards.
We
all
seen
the
daily
statistics
for
test
results,
they're
all
listed
on
the
Department
of
Health
website,
okay,
and
we
all
have
that
same
information
available
to
us
to
look
at
okay.
If
certain
statistics
are
not
shown
on
that
Department
of
Health's
website,
it's
because
it's
not
known
to
us
yet
she
stated
it
yesterday
from
the
Department
of
Health.
D
Those
things
may
be
coming
out
more
later
as
far
as
dividing
into
the
counties,
but
they're
not
known
yet
it
is
because
our
the
only
significant
statistic
to
me
as
a
physician
is
the
number
of
hospitalizations
that
are
required
and
those
people's
and
those
people
that
have
died.
Okay,
I,
don't
want
any
more
deaths
occurring
in
this
state
and
I
certainly
do
not
want
any
deaths
in
this
community.
Those
statistics,
then,
are
no
longer
just
numbers.
They
are
patients,
family
and
friends.
D
Another
big
reason
that
those
statistics
are
still
lower
for
this
community
is
the
social
distancing
that
everyone
is
doing.
Don't
change
this
yet
at
Brown
Clinic,
as
well
as
at
Sanford,
quick
care,
Prairie,
Lakes
Hospital.
We
have
all
been
continuously
changing
our
protocols
on
how
we
are
adapting
to
this
pandemic.
We
are
all
working
together
and
meeting
regularly
devising
plans
and
protocols
to
follow.
We
have
never
seen
anything
like
this
before
so
it
is
not
like.
We
can
just
do
everything
in
a
day.
D
We
keep
adapting
to
what
works
and
what
doesn't
work
every
patient
coming
in
is
triaged
at
the
door.
Their
temperature
is
taken.
Questions
are
asked
to
determine
what
category
they
fall
into
being
seen
in
questions
and
to
whether
or
not
they
need
to
wear
a
mask
or
if
they
need
to
be
taken
directly
to
a
designated
room,
be
seen
quickly
at
Brown
Clinic,
we
have
instituted
drive-up
lab
draws
to
still
be
taking
care
of
all
of
the
other
health
issues
that
we
need
to
deal
with
daily,
not
just
what
is
related
to
Co
but
19.
D
We
are
still
encouraging
people
if
they
are
sick
to
get
a
hold
of
us
at
the
clinic
and
set
up
a
telehealth
visit,
whether
by
video
or
telephone,
and
be
taken
care
of
that
way.
All
of
the
clinic's
have
telehealth
capabilities.
This
is
also
serving
as
a
triage
time
to
determine
who
is
truly
sick
enough
to
end
that
they
absolutely
need
to
be
seen
in
person.
The
amount
of
information
that
we
can
get
by
these
visits
is
incredible.
D
Ok
and
we
can
still
take
care
of
you
and,
at
the
same
time,
limit
both
our
patients
and
our
staffs
exposure
to
this
virus
people
who
thought
they
could
never
do
this
before
or
finding
out
that
it
is
really
pretty
simple
and
we
will
help
walk
you
through
every
step
of
it
in
an
attempt
to
help
take
care
of
you.
Our
hours
at
brown,
clinic
just
like
many
other
facilities
here
have
changed
and
we
are
currently
from
7:30
to
5:00
p.m.
D
Monday
through
Friday,
but
we
have
the
capability
and
opportunity
to
create
a
telehealth
visit
in
one
way
or
another
24/7
seven
days
a
week.
We
are
still
available.
This
way
continuously,
just
like
we
always
have
been,
but
in
a
way
that
limits
exposure
to
everybody
involved.
I
also
want
to
take
this
opportunity
to
thank
all
of
the
people
involved
in
our
Watertown
community
kovat
19
task
force.
You
have
no
idea
the
number
of
hours
being
spent
in
an
attempt
to
be
prepared
for
whatever
potential
this
pandemic
is
going
to
create
for
our
community.
D
It
is
a
concerted
effort
involving
prairie
lakes,
Hospital
Brown,
Clinic,
Sanford,
clinic
quick
care,
Garcia
clinic
Watertown,
Fire
&,
Rescue,
Watertown,
Police,
Department,
long-term
care
facilities,
funeral
homes,
mayor
Sarah,
Karen,
the
Watertown
City
Council
Cottington,
County
Commission,
the
sheriff's
department
at
Lake,
Area,
Technical,
Institute,
the
Watertown
school
systems,
Watertown
business
associations,
emergency
manage
services,
Human
Service
Agency,
and
the
countless
volunteers
who
were
involved
that
is
truly
essential
in
getting
ready
for
what
we
don't
even
really
know
or
can
comprehend
what
truly
could
be
coming.
People
need
to
realize
that
we
are
in
an
uncharted
territory.
D
Nobody
likes
what
is
going
on
in
the
social
distancing
and
business
closures,
etc.
We
are
a
small
community
that
sticks
together,
don't
give
in
yet
everybody
has
to
do
their
part
as
well
know
that
this
task
force
is
working
tirelessly
to
have
us
prepared
to
handle
anything
that
may
come
our
way.
I
am
proud
of
this
group
and
I
want
to
personally
thank
all
of
them.
I
have
never
been
prouder
or
privileged
to
work
with
a
group
like
this
for
the
benefit
of
our
community.
D
E
Thanks
dr.
Dan
hi
I'm,
Liz,
Christensen
executive
director
at
the
Boys
and
Girls
Club
of
Watertown
and
I'm
here
today,
just
to
give
you
some
updates
of
what
we're
doing
in
the
community.
So
safety
is
really
our
number
one
priority
at
the
Boys
and
Girls
Club
of
Watertown
and
we've
been
closely
monitoring
the
kovat
situation
within
the
community.
Our
top
priority
has
not
changed
and
that's
the
health
and
safety
of
the
over
2,500
children
and
families
that
we
serve
and
also
ensuring
the
well-being
of
our
staff
and
volunteers.
E
We
miss
our
club,
kids,
our
Aero
prep
preschoolers
and
our
kids
goat
members.
We
are
discouraged
that
we
need
to
keep
our
doors
closed,
but
we
know
that
these
are
the
right
steps
to
hopefully
see
our
members
again
soon.
Our
physical
doors
may
be
closed
for
traditional
operations,
but
we
still
have
been
providing
services
to
the
community.
Our
staff
have
been
working
hard
and
diligently
to
develop
alternative
virtual
programming
and
at-home
activities
for
youth,
so
I'd
like
to
go
over
some
of
those
opportunities.
E
If
you
are
interested
parents
and
youth
members
can
join
our
group
on
Facebook,
which
is
Boys
and
Girls
Club
of
Watertown
at
home.
This
will
provide
activity,
ideas,
daily
physical
fitness
challenges,
reading
time,
communication
with
our
staff
and
other
parents
and,
of
course,
fun
interactions
for
your
kids.
Each
day
we
highlight
different
program
areas
such
as
Wacky
Wednesday,
where
miss
Chelsea
our
education,
education
coordinator.
She
leads
a
stem
experiment
to
try
at
home.
We
also
offer
opportunities
for
youth
to
connect
in
a
safe
environment
such
as
virtual
gaming
and
leadership
club
meetings.
E
So
addition
to
the
virtual
programming
platform
we
are
also
offering
homework
help,
which
is
this
is
on
the
minds
of
many
of
us
parents
here
in
the
school
district.
This
homework
help
is
a
free
service,
of
course,
Monday
through
Thursday
from
3:30
to
5:30
p.m.
our
dedicated
staff.
Members
will
be
available,
live
to
answer
any
questions
and
provide
support
regarding
that
daily
schoolwork
that
our
children
are
challenged
with
right.
Now
we
lead
activity
on
the
zoom
meeting
platform.
E
You
can
find
information
about
all
these
programs
on
our
Facebook
page
or
our
website,
which
is
BGC
of
Watertown
comm.
Finally,
we're
very
proud
to
partner
with
the
Watertown
community
cares
group
to
host
community
food
distribution
events.
The
next
distribution
will
occur
tonight,
Thursday
at
the
Boys
and
Girls
Club
of
Watertown.
This
will
start
at
4:00
p.m.
and
it
will
run
until
supplies
last
vehicle,
because
vehicles
can
line
up
on
arrow
Avenue
from
highway
81
and
will
be
directed
by
volunteers.
E
Please
we
ask
that
no
vehicles
line
up
ahead
of
time
and
they
won't
be
allowed
to
start
and
train
the
parking
lots
until
4:00
p.m.
there
will
also
be
no
entrance
available
from
3rd
Avenue
Northeast
last
week.
We
are
so
proud
to
say
that
this
service
provided
food
to
over
1,700
individuals
from
the
community.
If
you're
interested
in
making
a
donation
to
help
with
this
food
program,
you
may
direct
your
monetary
donations
to
the
Salvation
Army
or
we're
also
taking
non-perishable
food
items
at
the
Boys
and
Girls
Club
Lobby.
E
We
want
to
thank
so
many
generous
volunteers
and
financial
donors
for
their
support
to
be
able
to
do
this.
It
is
so
inspiring
to
see
our
community
come
together
for
this
very
important
need.
The
club
has
also
been
providing
activity
packets
for
youth
at
these
food
distribution
events,
tonight's
activity
includes
making
your
own
helicopter
so
be
sure
to
get
those
for
your
kiddos.
E
If
you
have
any
direct
questions
about
the
program
so
I've
outlined
today,
you
can
certainly
call
the
club
at
eight
eight
six,
six,
six,
six,
six
or
email
us
at
Club
info
at
BGC
of
Watertown
comm.
So,
while
our
service
delivery
model
has
changed,
supporting
families
will
continue
now
more
than
ever,
our
community
needs
an
organization
like
the
Boys
and
Girls
Club
to
provide
stability
and
structure
during
these
unstable
times.
We
appreciate
your
support.
E
B
G
C
C
C
As
for
how
many
could
be
run
in
a
day,
it
really
depends
on
how
many
patients
that
meet
the
criteria
have
the
symptoms
would
be
ordered
to
be
done.
Do
I
expect
to
have
the
test
being
present
in
the
community
to
increase
testing?
It
may
do
that,
but
again,
as
I
stressed
and
as
dr.
Dan
stressed,
patients
need
to
be
symptomatic
and
they
need
to
meet
the
criteria
to
be
tested.
C
C
As
I
talked
about
in
my
presentation,
you
know
the
governors
and
the
Department
of
Health
projected
by
mid-june,
the
state
of
South
Dakota
will
be
peaking
in
the
number
of
cases
were
seeing
and
they've
told
us
to
prepare
to
see
up
to
172
hospitalized
patients
per
day,
which
is
an
extraordinary
number.
So
if
that
is
happening,
that
means
a
large
number
of
people
in
the
community
would
have
acquired
kovat
19.
G
C
Do
not
I
think
that
this
is
just
another
tool
we
have
available
to
us.
What
it
will
allow
for
us
to
do
is
those
patients
who
present
to
the
emergency
department
with
symptoms
and
need
to
be
hospitalized
we're
going
to
be
able
to
determine
whether
they
have
the
disease
or
they
don't,
and
that
will
alter
how
we
care
for
them
from
the
standpoint
of
putting
them
in
isolation
or
not,
and
using
that
precious
PPE
I
know
you
hear
us
talk
about
so
much.
C
G
I
mentioned
at
least
at
the
offset
testing
supplies
are
gotta,
be
the
limited
just
because
of
the
surgeon.
That's
been
a
case,
obviously
across
the
nation
for
well
since
pandemic
was
declared
just
basically
from
Prairie
respective
Kenny
kind
of
detail.
Why?
What's
I
guess
just
about
the
storages
from
your
end
and
the
challenges
that
present?
That
representative
sure
you.
C
Know
I
think
when
you
start
to
talk
about
the
numbers
of
patients,
we
may
potentially
see
during
a
surge
and
when
you
see
a
patient,
that's
in
isolation
and
the
amount
of
personal
protective
equipment,
that's
required
for
a
care
team
to
take
care
of
them.
It's
pretty
impressive!
How
quickly
you
can
go
through
a
supply
of
gowns
or
masks
to
take
care
of
patients,
so
we've
been
pretty
lucky
in
that
we.
C
We've
been
acquiring
supplies
as
we
go
along
but,
like
I
say
when
we
get
to
a
stage
where
there's
many
patients
that
are
presenting
to
the
clinics
and
presenting
to
the
ER
and
being
hospitalized
we'll
be
using
that
stuff
at
a
very
rapid
rate,
and
so
the
more
we
have
available
to
us,
the
better
and
I
think
all
of
us
all.
The
clinics
and
the
hospital
are
trying
to
preserve
that
now
during
this
calm
before
the
storm
that
the
mayor
mentioned,
so
that
when
we
do
get
in
that
situation,
we
have
as
much
as
possible.
A
No,
thank
you,
everyone
for
joining
us
today.
As
a
reminder,
we
post
updates
every
day
to
the
2020,
Watertown
kovat,
19,
Facebook
page
and
there's
a
variety
of
updates
from
the
CDC
Department
of
Health,
and
even
here
locally,
like
things
about
the
food
distribution
and
2-1-1.
If
you
do
not
have
facebook,
the
best
other
resource
would
be
to
call
2-1-1
on
your
phone
in
order
to
talk
to
the
helpline
Center.
Thank
you
and
have
a
great
day.