The South Dakota Department of Health has confirmed the South African and California variants of the COVID-19 virus have been detected in the state.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Josh Clayton says this includes one case of the South African variant (B.1.351) in Brookings County and five cases of the California variant (B.1.429), all in Roberts County.
The announcement comes two weeks after the UK variant (B.1.1.7) was initially detected in Minnehaha County. So far, 14 cases have been detected in the state– those being in Lyman, Brookings, Minnehaha & Pennington counties.
Clayton says continuing mitigation practices, like washing hands, social distancing and staying home when you are sick, help slow transmission rates and getting tested as soon as COVID-19 symptoms are detected is key. Clayton says available COVID-19 vaccines have shown some reduced effectiveness against these variants but are safe and offer good protection.
SDDOH strongly encourages state residents to choose getting vaccinated at their earliest convenience. On Monday, vaccination priority group 1E was opened statewide, covering approximately 227,000 South Dakotans.
South Dakotans can get more information on local opportunities to be vaccinated by clicking HERE. Additionally, state residents can request their FREE at-home COVID-19 test kits HERE. For additional information and the latest COVID-19 resources, visit COVID.SD.GOV.
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