PIERRE (AP) – South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday a shipment of an antiviral drug will be sent to the state this week to help treat severe cases of the coronavirus.
Noem said the shipment of remdesivir is intended for South Dakota’s “very worst cases” of COVID-19, the Rapid City Journal reported.
The Food and Drug Administration recently cleared the intravenous medication for emergency use.
South Dakota health officials on Monday reported 97 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, raising the state’s total to 3,614. South Dakota’s death toll remains at 34.
Minnehaha County, home to a Smithfield Foods pork plant in Sioux Falls that was the site of a coronavirus outbreak, is nearing 3,000 cases. The southeastern South Dakota county reported 85 new cases Monday, bringing its total to 2,952, the Argus Leader reported. Lincoln County, with the second-highest total in the state, reported three more cases for a total of 191, according to the state Health Department.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
