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WEBSITE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Melissa Magstadt, South Dakota Secretary of Health

South Dakota Department of Health Logo and covid.sd.gov button.

COVID-19 healthcare Provider & lab guidance

Information for Medical Providers
  • Interactive mapping tool to help guide rural communities’ strategies around COVID-19. The publicly available tool provides information on COVID-19 vaccination rates, including newly released data on bivalent boosters, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and other health and sociodemographic information for communities across the United States. (NORC at the University of Chicago)

Care of Patients with COVID-19 Infection

When evaluating and providing medical care for a person with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection, please refer to CDC infection prevention and control recommendations.

General Testing Recommendations

Medical providers are recommended to test individuals with signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 infection, including:

  • Fever or chills
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle or body aches
  • Headache
  • New loss of taste or smell
  • Sore throat
  • Congestion or runny nose
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Diarrhea

Testing at the South Dakota Public Health Laboratory

The following groups of individuals will be prioritized for testing:

  • Hospitalized patients
  • Healthcare workers, first responders, and active military, with symptoms
  • Individuals living or working in institutional settings, such as long-term care facilities, with symptoms
  • Underinsured or uninsured individuals, with symptoms
  • Low-income individuals or those unable to pay for testing, with symptoms
  • Homeless individuals with symptoms

 

SD Guidance for Providers

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

SD Public Health Lab
SD Registry and Data Collection

South Dakota and its health systems have banded together to combat the SARS CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease. Developing and using registries to collect, analyze, and share data about the virus and its impact on patients, physicians, and other caregivers will help develop the knowledge to successfully prevent and treat COVID-19. South Dakota clinicians and facilities have access to data collection tools to aid in the gathering of evidence. Learn more below:

  • SD State COVID-19 Positive Patient Registry | Excel | PDF | FAQ

Registry

Randomized clinical trials provide the most reliable information to test treatments, but are not always practical or possible, especially during a pandemic. Structured data collection is the pragmatic answer to collecting data outside of a clinical trial. The purpose of the registries is to learn more about the natural history of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the effects of treatments, possible mechanisms of disease, and to inform the development of diagnostics and therapeutics. 

The COVID-19 Positive Patient Registry is more inclusive, creating a database of all COVID-19 positive patients, regardless of their treatment. This registry will provide for the collection of onset symptoms, pre-existing conditions but then also provide for the collection of treatments and outcomes initially and on an ongoing basis until the patient is recovered. 

Consolidation of the various sources of data will be structured as the registry volumes mature, anticipated development of the integrated Registry database is fall, 2020. The consolidated registry will be governed with data use agreements and an oversight body to protect the privacy of patients and clinicians, but encourage access by physicians and researchers to answer COVID-19 related questions.

Emergency Management Assistance Compact

On March 23, 2020, Governor Noem issued Executive Order 2020-07 which recognizes the licenses of medical professionals licensed in another state in accordance with the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The following professions licensed in other states have the authority to practice in SD based on an active license in another state. They do not need to gain another license in SD. It is recommended that if you are utilizing the services of one of the professionals licensed in other states that you verify the licensure status of that individual. Please contact the board office with any questions that you have during this Coronavirus Pandemic.

Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities
ListServs for Healthcare providers

The Department of Health maintains a variety of LISTSERVs that provide useful information on COVID-19, including current guidance and scheduled calls.

Volunteer

ATTENTION RETIRED OR INACTIVE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS:

Governor Noem is reaching out to our state’s licensed medical professionals (physicians, nurses, EMTs, etc.) who are willing to volunteer their services during this COVID-19 pandemic through the Department of Health’s Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers in South Dakota (SERV SD). SERV SD coordinates the pre-registration of medical and health care professionals who may be willing to volunteer in the event of an emergency.

Whether you work in a health field or not, active or retired, if you have an interest in assisting your community or state during the COVID-19 pandemic, we invite you to join SERV SD. SERV SD will create a database of medical and health care volunteers who can be mobilized immediately in response to an emergency. Participation in a deployment opportunity is optional. You may decide at the time a call is made to volunteer if you are willing and able to respond.

Registering with SERV SD is easy. Go to https://volunteers.sd.gov/.

CDC Guidance
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