Hello and welcome to a covid 19 special. South dakotas have a lot of questions about the coronavirus. They also have questions about the decisions being made in an effort to slow down the spread. Joining me to help answer some of those questions live, we have governor kristi noem, secretary with the south Dakota Department of health, kim malsamrysdon, and the commissioner of the Governors Office of Economic Development, steve westra. Welcome to all of you. Thank you. We are going to continue to take questions tonight. You can send those via text or email. Our phone number to send a text is 9567372. We are going to get started. We have been receiving questions for the last day and a half. All of those that we will be asking tonight have come from south dakotas except this first one. Governor, i will start with you. You shared some encouraging news with south dakota during your first conference. You spoke to the number of projected hospital beds that we thought would be needed when south dakota would hit its peak and now that looks like it has changed. Share with south dakotans what those numbers look like and what that means. Gov. Noem thank you so much for doing this. I think it will be very helpful to everyone who has tuned in and the people of south dakota to get some information on how we can get through this virus and what it is doing to our state every day for the next several weeks. Today we had a press conference and unveiled new projections for our state. If everyone remembers back on march 10 is when we announced our first cases that were impacting south dakota. We used national models, what we saw happening in other states and countries to build a projection for the state of south dakota. Using demographics, people that may be of formal age or if they vulnerable age that we knew we had living in the state, or if they had preexisting Health Conditions, we made projections for how that would look like when we hit our peak infection rate and hospitalization rate in south dakota. With no mitigation efforts whatsoever, we would need over 10,000 hospital beds at our peak. We came forward, put some social distancing guidelines in place, told people to stay home, to use good hygiene practices, to wash their hands, we said that groups could not be more than 10 and they needed to be smaller than that in south dakota and asked for businesses to be innovative in how they change their practices, take care of the customers, and also taking care of their employees and keeping them healthy. When we did that, we pushed out our peak infection date to the middle of june and we knew that from that with the agreement of our three Healthcare Systems in the state, we would need 5000 hospital beds in the state of south dakota on that date for covid19 patients. Since then, we have gotten more information, more days and experience under our belt. We know how the virus is spreading in south dakota and we are using that information in continuing to adapt those models and predict what we will see in south dakota. Today i shared with everybody that we now believe that our statewide peak will still happen in the middle of june but that we should need half of the hospital beds that we originally thought. About 2500 beds. That is really encouraging news for south dakota. That means our systems have the capacity to take care of folks that may require an elevated level of healthcare and that we will be able to flatten that curve and do that in a way that makes sure that we can deal with what is coming at us. I want to remind everybody that the science of this virus tells us that we cannot stop it, but we can take action to slow it down and make sure that if people catch the virus and become infected that we are getting than the healthcare they need to get through it. The encouraging news is that all of the work that south dakotans have done is working. It is working and i need you to stay committed to it. Im still going to prepare with sanford and monument and the other healthcare entities for that 5000 bed capacity for to over prepare and over plan. The fact that the projections and the data tells us that we will see less people needing hospitalization, that is really good news for our state and it is proof that what everybody is doing by taking personal responsibility is working. Before i get into those top questions that have come over the last 24 hours, many folks have questions about the decisions you have made so far. These are decisions that few people have had to make in our lifetimes if ever. Can you talk to me about the pressure this has put on you, your team, or other leaders across the state and the conversations you have had with them as we have made these decisions . Gov. Noem i would say i am very blessed to have great people around me. I have been on dozens of phone calls with people across this country that are making decisions. The team we have in south dakota is outstanding. Our state epidemiologist, our secretary of health, they are highly respected throughout the nation for their expertise and their knowledge. I think the people of south dakota can be reassured that we have a class a came in south dakota advising me. We have listened and worked daily with our Healthcare Systems, our professionals. Sanford health has a research arm that is helpful to us during this time. Avira has a comprehensive knowledge of how to deliver Telehealth Services and to get out on the ground and care for people not just in healthcare needs, but there Mental Health care needs which is what we are facing in south dakota as well through this virus. Monument health has an amazing ability to triage and appoint healthcare peak remote and rural areas. It has been amazing expertise to have. I rely on the people around me and come back to the foundation of using facts. I talked to people everyday that are scared, that have a lot of fear and emotion. We followed the science, what we know of the virus and the data and the facts that we see on the ground will make the best decisions for our People Living here in south dakota. I want everyone to remember that i lived here my entire life, too. I have a mom in the vulnerable population. She has diabetes. I have a son with severe asthma. I have nephews with preexisting conditions as well. I put myself in your shoes. I know when it is your family and you see how they could get very ill from this virus, i am taking extra steps to put those precautions in place to make sure we protect as many people as possible. I also know we cannot stop the virus. If we tackled this together and Work Together, that we can get through this situation and make sure we come out strong on the other side. Im going to ask the number one question that is come in so far. A lot of viewers and listeners are wanting a better explanation, they want to better understand the data in terms of making that decision regarding a government shutdown. Where will we need to be for a state shutdown . Where will we need to be to make that decision . Gov. Noem we need to look at what is happening in other states that have done that, the results they have gotten, and what is happening in south dakota. We have seen such an outstanding call to action among the people of south dakota that we actually have more people staying home than many of the other states that have put in shelterinplace orders and have put together directives to tell people they cannot leave their homes. The way people have stuffed up in south dakota and taken it seriously has been phenomenal and it has made all of the all the difference. I have not seen a data set that has told me it is necessary. It is not that i am not teachable and im not listening to people, i am. I am talking to experts that have looked at other countries and constantly doing research on what are the best negation measures and what is really working. I want to remind everybody that i also consider the fact that whatever i put into place today, you have to sustain. I cannot put a shelterinplace for just two or three days or even 10 days. It may be something that would have to stay in place until we reach our peak infection date. I am always asking myself how long can i expect people to stay in their homes and still listen to the advice that we are giving them. If i tell you to go in your homes and not come out for three weeks and it is not at the right time or it is not appropriate and three weeks from now i say, we need you to stay for another three and nobody listens and everybody comes out and a size they cannot do it anymore and then we had huge infection rates all at one time and it overwhelms our healthcare system, that was not an effective approach. I am always looking at what is happening in other states. Are there fact that tell me it is necessary and it does not has been an appropriate move for south dakota. Governor, if we get to that point do you feel it should be universal across the state or because the way we are laid out geographically, is it that every community would be different . Gov. Noem i think it is very different across the state of south dakota. I cannot imagine a circumstance where i would think it is appropriate statewide. We are very different than the big populated cities that you see on tv. We are spread out. There is a lot more open space in south dakota. Even though new york city is not like lemon, south dakota. Sioux falls isnt like faith, either. We need targeted approaches of things that actually work for that community and what reflects that communitys needs. That is the viewpoint i am looking at. Every single county, city, and township in this state. I want to move to the secretary. Lets bring our viewers and listeners uptodate on the latest positive cases in south dakota. Secretary, even our recovery numbers are just as important. What can you tell us . As of today we have 1168 positive cases in the state. Many of those associated with the smithfield outbreak. I know we will probably be talking about that later as well, but it is important to keep in mind that people recover from covid. It is important to keep in mind that people do recover from covid. 80 of people that contract covid will have mild symptoms or maybe even no symptoms whatsoever. People do get better. We have over 330 people that have recovered. That is the good news. We have also seen a relatively low rate of hospitalization and that is also good news and that is what is helping to contribute toward the new numbers that the governor announced today. Covid can be very serious for some people. The majority of people do get better, they can stay at home, they can do the right thing to not infect other people and that is going to be key to us getting through this. Secretary, we have had questions come in about taking care of themselves and the best advice now that those numbers it is the message we have been giving since the beginning, and that is wash her hands. Wash your hands often. In my family, we are joking to if our hands are not chapped, we are not washing our hands enough. You Committee Contacts with a lot of different things. Keep your environment clean. Wipe down things you touch a lot in your house, your car. Common sense things like that can go a long way. The number one thing people can do is maintain social distancing. That means staying away from other people, keeping good distance between you and others. We know that this virus spreads primarily through respiratory droplets from person to person. That comes from things like sneezes or coughs. If you do have to sneeze or cough, use a tissue. Really, staying away from people is the number one thing we can do. I think it is one thing to say stay away from people. Is another thing to do that in your everyday life. I would challenge people to think about what you do over the course of a week and let us see the we can do to reduce number of times you come in contact with other people by another 25 . When you go to the gas station, pay at the pump. Do not go into the store and come into contact with another person. Limit the times you have to go Grocery Shopping during the course of a week. And see ifharmacy they can mail your prescriptions to you and save yourself a trip. Just very practical things i think we can do. They might be inconvenient for us at this time, but over time, reducing our contacts of others will help the transmission of this disease. First and foremost, that is what i would say. If you have symptoms, do not go to your clinic or to the emergency room. Please call ahead. Providers are going to walk you through what is going on with you. They will give you advice on what you can do. We are seeing a surge in video visits and telehealth. Staying out of those clinic. Ettings is important if you do need to be tested, your provider will help you understand what you need to do to get that testing. Please call ahead if you have symptoms. Biggest message there minimize your contact with other people, practice good social distancing, wash her hands often, clean your environment. There is a recommendation from the cdc to wear masks. That would be another thing people can do to help reduce the spread. I wouldnt courage people to go st. Gov. Secretary, real qic. It is about the care 19 act. App thathe voluntary will help individuals track their whereabouts. Common people to we have so far that are utilizing this app, and are we finding it helpful . I can speak to that one. We developed this app with the help of the north dakota governor and some contacts he has. It is an app specifically designed for folks on their iphone. It will be ready for an android by the end of this week. They can download, and it will start tracking where they have gone, so if they do test positive for covid19, we have that Historical Data to utilize to protect other people to stop the spread. For. App is extremely help north dakota is the first eight to use it. We have about 12,000 people using it today, but i need every single south dakota and to download this at. It is called care 19 in your app store. , voluntary. F charge it is anonymous, and all of the information will be destroyed. When somebody test positive, our department of health staff do contact tracing. They call it that individual, and say where have you been . Who have you talked to . What places have you been walking by and try to contact every Single Person that they potentially exposed to the virus while they were in the days previous to testing positive. That takes time. Those individuals that get exposed to the virus, they called them and visit with them and see where they have been and where they have traveled or people they have been exposed to as well. It takes hours. If somebody would just download this app, turn on their location services, that would allow us to immediately have that information and utilize it to key people home and isolated when they could be contagious and help stop the spread and slow it down in those areas. That is why it would be so helpful if every person in the state of south dakota that has the capability would download that app and turn on location services. It would make a world of difference for saving us time. It would help us being proactive in identifying people immediately and isolating them. In the future, we are hoping to build out a feature where it can send you a notification on if somebody does test positive that you were previously in contact with that it would let you know. I would encourage everybody to download the care 19 app and utilize it during the next several weeks. The information that is part of the care 19 app is totally anonymous. When you sign up, you are given a number that you maintain. If you fall into the situation where you test positive in the future, it is up to you to give that number so that we have the information that is in the app. People do control that. It is anonymous, and it is safe to use. I have a question from a viewer that came in, and the viewer, her name is michelle, and this question says, what measures do you have in place to support the reservations and have significant numbers of Vulnerable People in our state . That is a i think great question. We are having regular phone calls with tribal leaders and Health Care Experts in our reservation areas to make sure that they have equipment, howlies and have a plan for they are going to address covid19. Deployed and been working with ihs, a Health Care Provider that has presence out there on the reservations. They have been sent some id tests equipment and supplies, so that will help us to Rapid Testing, and then making sure we have the ability to get those folks who could be at elevated levels of health care they need to be. That communication has been happening on a weekly and more often basis than that when they have questions and follow up and preparing for that population should need some assistance and we should have an outbreak in those areas that we immediately get them the help and partnership that they require. We are going to switch gears here. We are going to talk about smithfield foods. I also want to talk about Clinical Trials, and we have commissioner west wrote thus as we talk about help for Small Businesses. To come toim going you next. When we look at smithfield foods, what do we know in terms of the number of employees that have tested positive . How many are hospitalized, and that theren reports has been one death so far of one of these smithfield employees. What can you tell us . Are 518 today, there employees of smithfield that have tested positive. About 126 close contacts have tested positive is well. The number of hospitalized has varied, but we have seen probably a handful of people hospitalized from that particular population. We do not have a confirmed death yet of anybody in the smithfield population, and we will report, keep those numbers updated as we go along. Cdc isnow that the planning on visiting, and from what i understand, it is tomorrow. What is their mission in terms of visiting . Asked the cdc to come in and help provide Technical Assistance to a team that includes the state health department, the city of sioux falls, and that includes smithfield. They have brought in a team of experts who have experiences from all different kinds of outbreaks in areas, including at places that deal with animal health. They will start tomorrow morning with a tour of the facility. They will look at the operation, they call it from truck to truck. That is from the time trucks bring in animals to the time product is leaving the facility. They will look at every single process involved with that, look at the workspace, look at the ways people can be protected, look at the things smithfield has put into place and things they are working on right now. We will come out with some recommendations for what needs to happen so that that can be a safe workplace moving forward so that we can ensure employees can come back to work and be safe and do the critical jobs that they do. We are very optimistic. It is a very collaborative effort. We think it is going to be very good to be able to get that facility back up and running. Governor, maybe this next question is for you. Do we have a timeline in terms of when we would like to see that plant up and running . Gov. Noem we would like to see it up and running as soon as possible that facilitates an environment that is safer employees. That is why the cdc is here. We asked them to come and go through the facility and partner with smithfield get mitigation measures in place to happen. I have been working with the Vice President and the United States secretary of agriculture and smithfield to come up with a plan to reopen once we have the protective equipment for employees in place and sanitizing stations. We have those protective measures in place, and we also have given employees a time to heal and be ready to come back to work. That plant will be up and running. I think it is important for people of south dakota to recognize how important that plant is to our country. It is a Critical Infrastructure plan, which means it needs to be running for our National Security and for our food supply. It is one of the biggest pork processing plants in the nation, and it feeds a lot of people in this country. Regardless of if businesses were shut down or open, this plant would have been running regardless because of the importance a provides to our country and food supply chain. When we get this up and running cdctly with the plan for agrees to, with smithfield, with the secretary of agriculture and state and local leaders, it will be for the benefit of not just our state but also for our country. Governor, those employees that are waiting to go back to work. Are they being compensated right now . Gov. Noem smithfield is paying them for two weeks and obviously paying those who are sick and in quarantine as well. They have stepped up to make sure they are compensating those employees and they have been communicating with them on a regular basis. There have been a lot of folks on the ground in sioux falls with nonprofits and other entities that are helping those employees and their families as well during this time. You have so many of them impacted has been a really difficult thing for that community and company. It is been great to see the partners come alongside them to make sure they are taking care of them while we are focusing on getting that plant back up online. One of the questions that came in in a number of different ways has to deal with whether or not the state, the department of health worked with the plants or any other large employees early on to make sure that they were following cdc guidelines. Is that something did is typically done . Was that done in this case . Gov. Noem it was. We worked with every business in the state to make sure they were aware of cdc guidelines. It is important for people in the state to know we started preparing for this virus back in january. The department of health started to look at plans for when it got here how we would make sure we were communicating with families and businesses. We came forward and opened our Emergency Operation center back in february and fully staffed it in the next week or two to make sure we were ready and prepared before the virus reached south dakota. When we had our first case on march 10, that is when you saw us take action with executive orders that allowed us to make sure the entire population was informed on how we would go forward in our day to day lives. I will let kim talk a little bit about specific guidances so that they are well informed on the recommendations coming out of the cdc. Has put out guidance in a lot of different areas. We keep all of that accessible covid. Sdon the website. Early on, we worked with partners across the state, including the retailers association, the south Dakota Chamber of commerce and other groups to help us reach other businesses across the state so that they knew what they were supposed to be doing to protect their workers. We also can give guidance in terms of how to use ppe, get ppe. That is going to play a role for some businesses in terms of keeping their workers safe. Are working on positive cases and we are understanding the situation around those positive cases, we will often work with employers and that kind of a situation to understand if a positive person has exposed other people in those situations and we would talk specifically with that employer about some of the practices they have, some of the things they can do to protect their workforce and provide guidance in those situations. When we started to see cases at smithfield, we were in communication with them, understanding how they were screening employees and how they were excluding employees that were possibly symptomatic and some of those practices that can contribute towards the help of their workers. I am going to send this next one to the governor before we Start Talking about Clinical Trials. Smithfields situation and many other situations across the country are starting to him to impact agriculture negatively. It is our states number one industry. What conversations are you having with leaders right now to help us get through this . Gov. Noem this is a very difficult situation for our agriculture industry. Of hog farmers and producers that send their commodities to this plant. Any disruption in the system does great damage to them financially and even in planning and how their operation will work for the coming months. We have been talking with them about how quickly we can get this plant cup and online safely. Their concern to get that date lockdown. That is why we brought in the Vice President. That is why we have been talking with the secretary of agriculture to see how quickly we can get inspections done, equipping on hand so this plant can get back up and running. I had a call with the pork producers yesterday and talked through how we ended up here, how we are dealing with the virus, taking care of employees and what we can do to get operations running smoothly. They are anxious. We are also working on ways that we can help coordinate with other markets that may be available, other resources we can bring forward, ways that we can help them deal with their inventory and supply chains. The economichings Development Team is working on with our agriculture producers to make sure that we can keep their operations going in light of the huge Economic Impact we are seeing in our state and across the country. This virus has devastated our economy, and when i talk about our economy, i am talking about Small Businesses and farmers in south dakota. It is the momandpop shops on main street, the gas stations, the Little Grocery stores. If you lose that Grocery Store, it could be 50, 60 miles to the closest Grocery Store available for that family. We have not only been working producers, weag have been working to get them help for the next several months. Im going to start with the secretary on this. We are going to talk about the hydroxychloroquine Clinical Trials in south dakota. It was announced that south dakota will implement a statewide Clinical Trial for potential coronavirus treatment. It was mentioned that we thought some south dakota inns had started in this trial already. Do we know if they have started and how they are doing . We have had a lot of abbreviations. Usedxychloroquine has been and is used today in certain situations, so doctors are prescribing that. It is used for other conditions as well as for the potential weatment of covid19, and so have had some questions about having this study interfere with other people that need this drug, and the answer to that is no. Governor noem advocated that we get out of the Strategic National stockpile will be used for this study, and that is outside of the normal drug supply chain. Anybody else using this drug for any reason will not experience any problems trying to get the drug. Becausereally exciting, we will see the opportunity for in south dakota who test positive for covid19 work may have been exposed or are in a highrisk Contact Group to have access to this drug, and we are going to be looking to see if it helps people who are positive have a less severe disease course, can we keep people off of ventilators. Does it reduce the length of stay that people need to be in the hospital if they get this drug . But person is not positive is a Health Care Worker who is exposed, and that is a high priority population for us, could this drug keep them from developing covid . We are going to be looking at a lot of different angles of this treatment, and the fact it is a statewide study will allow thousands of south dakotans to participate. That is really exciting. As folks know, it is being led by stanford with offsites with a vera and Monument Health. To see that partnership happened and to see the sharing of information and data so that we can all be smarter when we are treating this disease speaks volumes about the partnerships in our state. Some people will have perhaps been treated with hydroxychloroquine up to this point if they have been covid positive. The trials themselves have not yet started. Ofare in the final stages putting some things into place for that to happen. There is some review processes that need to happen and make sure the study is done with Safety Measures and those kinds of things in place. Those are being finalized right now, and we hope to see people in role very soon, potentially towards the end of next week. Of folks. Got a lot they are interested in learning more. We have got a lot of questions. Two partis there a component to this, one for inpatient and outpatient and a second for those hospital workers and highrisk individuals . Is that correct . That is correct. The first group is those folks who are positive who would be getting the hydroxychloroquine for treatment purposes. That could apply for people who are both inpatient and outpatient. The second group are those people who are not positive. They are negative, but they have been exposed to somebody who is positive. The two groups we are targeting there are two workers at high risk and other highrisk close contact to positive people. That could be a caretaker, a household member of somebody who tested positive. The people in those two parts who are negative, that will be the randomized placebocontrolled study. Some people get the drug, and some people will not. We will see if there is a benefit to this drug in preventing the disease. Governor, im going to ask you a question and then switch gears and talk about our economy and bringing commissioner westra. Our Health Care Systems in south dakota are amazing. Why do you believe they are best suited for driving the first statewide world Pandemic Research study versus world recognized institutions such as the mayo clinic, harvard, stanford, oregon health, etc. For thosets out there who recognize how great our medical facilities are but would question why not others . Gov. Noem Sanford Health is world renowned. They are highly recognized around the world for the investments that they are making into research and finding solutions to a lot of our Biggest Health care challenges. To have them leading this is phenomenal. I also think that south dakota is the only state who could have possibly done this. To get three Health Care Systems to Work Together and partner in Something Like this is unprecedented, and then to have a small population like we do where we can implement Something Like this statewide and to have a State Government and a governor who supports it so much that we are willing to partner in it and then to get a relationship with the federal government that when you call them up and say i need 1. 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine and they get it here within two days, that would not happen in any other state. That is what is special about south dakota. We now have an opportunity not only to help our people get through this virus better and keep them healthier and literally try to use this therapeutic to help get them out of hospitals quicker to keep them out of the icu, to get them off of ventilators, we also have the opportunity to do research here that could give us solutions to how we deal with this virus for months and years to calm. Covid19 is going to be with us for a while. We need solutions for how to treated and we need a vaccine. This is south dakota stepping up to say we are willing to work and put the time in and use this as an opportunity to help our people but also to conduct the research that is necessary to help our country and the world. Toi want to switch commissioner westrick. I want to apologize that it took me so long to get to you. We have got a lot of questions for you as well. A lot of smart a lot of out theresinesses are worrying. Lets talk about the relief fund now available for those businesses to help make ends meet. There are been some question about the eligibility requirements. What can you tell us . Thank you, and that is correct. Small Business Relief Fund is something that is been rolled out in the last couple of weeks. It is something that was introduced in the south dakota legislator. Both chambers supported it and the governor signed that bill the very next day to where the Governors Office of Economic Development could start rolling the plan in place and getting it out there. We had it online for our Small Businesses in the state of south dakota within three days or from the time the governor at sign that. In that time that we have had it out there, we have had hundreds of applicants applying for it. We know that the need is there. It is a program that Small Businesses in the state of south dakota in 5,000 increments can be applying for on the low slide low side all the way up to 75,000. We are seeing an incredible number of applicants come in for it. We have deployed our entire staff to be working, communicating with all of our businesses in the state so that they fully understand what is available to them both on the state and federal side. Commissioner, you talk about the large number of applicants coming in. How will it be determined who receives the assistance . The main thing we are looking at is the fact that we want to make sure that the key indicators were they were economically injured in the covid 19 pandemic we are experiencing right now. Businesses that have a track record that was successful up until march and they can show us that they have been economically impacted are the candidates that we are working with closely, and those of the criteria that we are really looking at. Beginning in march, those companies that have been not negatively impacted. Looking at the hospitality industry, whether restaurants or hotels, in many cases those were businesses running well above the 90 , and right after march 15, they dropped down into the single digits. The Tourism Industry in the state of south dakota has been negatively impacted. It really does not matter what sector or industry it is. We are seeing a domino effect across the board, and the stories are heartbreaking that we hear on a regular basis from Business Owners not only that are impacting the owner themselves, but the impact of the employees that these employers look at as a part of their family. These are businesses that do not see their revenue down by 30 or 40 . They have seen their business to shut down. The doors are locked. Theyre fearful about what the future looks like trying to figure out when theyre going to have the ability to get back into a normal business routine or cycle. The stories are heartbreaking that are out there. Governor noems small Business Relief Fund has been getting a lot of detention. We are also on the federal side looking at the paycheck protection program, which we are encouraging all businesses, no matter what the size is in the state, to be applying for that. That is a program that will help keep our employees employed. At the end of the day that is what we all want to be doing. That is a program i will tell you the state of south dakotas Banking Community and small lenders have done a great job. I am so pleased the department of Economic Development is partner with them. The hard work they are doing to get these applicants processed and get it out there so that the money can be deployed so that these Business Owners can have a little bit of relief over the next couple of months. Just keep in mind, just this last april, as april 1 was a time. Utilitiesnts are due, are due, Health Care Premiums are due. We are going to be approaching another critical day coming up on may 1. These businesses have zero revenue coming in right now. These programs are critical to their survival. First and foremost, as the governor has made clear, caring for the second vulnerable is their top party. We are really working with our businesses to innovate at this time in the very unique Business Climate we are all experiencing. A do we have any word on turnaround time . They fill other application, your team looks at it. When can they receive those funds . Forhat was the whole reason governor noems Small Business really fun. Relief on the federal side some things are taking longer to rollout. On the governors small Business Relief Fund, in many instances we are getting those turnaround in well under a week from the time that we receive it. We are trying to sign Business Development rep or community Development Rep to work sidebyside with all of our businesses here. As long as we can get those applications processed in a fashion where everything is filled out correctly, we can move rather quickly. That was by design, and that was the governors intention of deploying that 10. 5 million to offer that fund to help these Small Businesses while they seek other avenues out there so that they can continue to operate once we get through this pandemic. Femalesve had a lot of come in, and there are more personal stories, Business Owners that are struggling. I do not know if you have an answer for her, and im going to paraphrase her question. Because of the date that she opens it, she does not qualified for any of the loans, and all of the employees were laid off because of the date that they opened. Is there any help for folks like this, because maybe their business did not start on time . They were new business. What advice you have for folks like sierra . Because it is difficult to know all of the details related to the situation, what i can tell you is that the governor noems small Business Relief Fund, as long as they were in business by march 1, they can be applying for that fund. As far as the ppe program on the federal side, i would still encourage her to be looking at that. Avenues within the care act that cr be looking oo. T there is a 10,000 granta can be paid out within three days that Small Businesses like her would be participating in. To the going to go back governor. We are starting to hear revelings of getting our economy moving again. There are concerns that we do not want to move too fast. What are your thoughts on this . A unique we are in position here in south dakota, because we gave some time to our businesses to innovate, to change their practices so that they could remain open if they do your to the guidance that we put out in my executive order, if they made sure they accounted for social distancing, if they kept groups under the size of 10. We have allowed them to think outside the box and still protect people in the public while they were doing that. We have a great business ,nvironment in south dakota lowtech structure, low regulatory structure. I have waived a lot of the that should help us stand up our economy quicker. This is very difficult. We have been devastated. Their revenues have been wiped out, and they are extremely challenged, but we are in a better position than many of these states because of the environment we have created and the fact we have given flexibility to our businesses to innovate and survive. We are going to keep our foot on the gas on the plan that we laid out a couple of weeks ago. We are going to keep the same mitigation measures in place that i encouraged everybody to do. I need people to stay home. I need them if they are sick to call their doctor. They need to be practicing social distancing. If they do all of that, if they take personal responsibility, we will come out of this virus and take care of our communities and people and be ready to get our Small Businesses and economy rolling again. Wespeaking of our economy, have several questions come in regarding the summer. Some of our big events, such as the circus or fair. They are wanting to know if there are questions about stopping this . We have not made a decision on the south dakota state fair or rally, because they are far enough into the future that we think there might be an opportunity to conduct those events, maybe with some changes or elements then what they have had in the past. Our peak date still looks like it is in midjune. Because of the smithfield hotspot that we have, sioux falls will peak sooner than that. We think there peak infection date and the date they will need the most hospital beds will be in the middle of may. That has had that has sped up a little bit. Each community will be a little different with where they are at , and we are hoping to get encouraging news. More therapeutics will help. More innovations and testing that allow us to go out there and have adequate supplies to test the population and get people back to normal activities will all make an impact on what we see in the coming weeks. I obviously am planning to keep the same course through june. I would ask every family to plan that way as well. Beyond that, we will continue to give as much guidance as we can. Question ask a couple from viewers. Secretary, this next one is for you. What are your Emergency Preparedness or emergency . Esponse plans for rural areas what can small communities expect when this virus infects the communities. They only have a hospital in teddington, north dakota with a limited number of beds. There is concern here from our rural members across the state. What is our plan . We are working with communities across the state and Healthcare Providers to be ready to take care of people who become sick. Rural communities are definitely a part of that planning. We are actively working with all hospitals in the state to currentnd what their capacity is, and how many more people they can take care of within the structures that they have, what kind of staffing needs they would have to take care of more people so that we can be ready to have those 5000 beds ready. As a worstcase scenario, Rural Communities play a role in that. We obviously know the weight healthcare works today is if folks need specialized care, they often times will move from one hospital to a hospital in a larger town. We expect that will happen to some degree as well. We are working with hospitals across the state to make sure they are taking care of as many people as they can, they have the equipment and supplies they need, including that personal protective equipment and that they have the staff they need to do that. Working very actively with every hospital in the state, and they have been proactive in identifying what it is they can do to make sure they could keep their community safe. Number of also had a questions about the western side of south dakota. Interms of confusing testing,confusion with what can you tell us . Every positive test of a south dakota resident would be reflected in our numbers on the department of health website. If there is a positive case, it will be in that count. We do have those positive cases broken down by county, and you will see, we also have aggregated age ranges and aggregated positive counts by sex. We are working on an upgrade to the information we have on our website to include county specific negative tests, so people can anticipate seeing that in the next several days. We will be excited to roll that out as well. Haveata has evolved as we started this, and i think it will continue to evolve and to itrefined as we have more of. Look for that constantly changing. We are trying hard to get the information out there people are asking for. West river, we have seen fewer positive cases. We also have not seen any major upticks in hospital utilization, so it is not that we are seeing people who are getting sick that have not been tested and ending up in the hospital. We are seeing less activity overall. Really tryinge hard to get more testing out in those communities, and the other part of the announcement today was the deployment of some Rapid Testing machines at the state level. We are deploying several of those two west river communities to help increase the Testing Capacity of those communities. Governor, i am going to come to you. Maybe the secretary can answer. It has to do with the hydroxychloroquine clinical testing trial that we are going to be doing. Some folks are a little concerned. They are looking at this as south dakota may be a guinea pig for this, and if there are whoetitions in the future, will be responsible or liable for anything that would come from that . This entire Clinical Trial will be voluntary. It is something a patient will decide with their doctor. There is nothing anyone would have to participate in that would not want to. We are making it available to the public, which i think is a benefit to our state and population to have more options as we go into this uncertain time to give them the option of a therapeutic so that they can fight out this virus as they are going. , especially to those i have visited with who are elderly, if they have a preexisting Health Condition that can make catching this virus detrimental to their health. They are feeling reassured that they have an option not available before. That is one of the reasons i am confident in what we are doing, and it is also because we have all of our Health Care Systems that said yes, we will do it. We think this is a real option for people in south dakota. This is something that Sanford Health brought to us and i said, yes, lets do it. A and Monument Health wanted to be partners or was well. We have phenomenal doctors, healthcare workers, researchers that are excited about the opportunity to conduct this first ever statewide, state backed trial. For south dakota, it shows that we are going on offense against this virus and give people as many tools as possible to protect them and their families. Secretary, commissioner, we have covered a lot of ground tonight. Take you for your time, and as you continue to educate the state to your press briefings, we wont make sure to air that on sd. Net. Thank you. Thanks to all who did reach out to us with your own questions. South dakota focus will return tomorrow night as we examined on impact covid19 is having our agricultural industry. That will be live tomorrow. On behalf of all of us, thank you for watching. Have a good night. Cspan has roundtheclock coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, and it is all available on demand at cspan. Org coronavirus. Watch White House Briefings, updates from governors and officials, track the spread throughout the u. S. In the world with interactive maps. Time,on demand any unfiltered at cspan. Org coronavirus. Washington journal prime time, a special evening edition of washington journal on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our guests are university of houston professor peter lee, an expert on chinese politics and animal right laws will talk about chinese and their suspected role in the coronavirus. Also, congresswoman robin kelly on the impact on her district. Join the conversation tonight at 8 00 eastern. A live look this afternoon at the White House Briefing room, where in about 15 minutes, trump will be briefing reporters on the Coronavirus Response and a possible plan to reopen the u. S. Economy. We expect Vice President pence and members of the task force to join the president. Until then, a video News Conference with House Minority leader kevin mccarthy. He spoke to reporters from his office in washington, d. C. Efforts toout support Small Businesses. Mccarthy thank you for joining us. We are doing it two different ways on this press conference. We have it by phone. Cspan is also covering it. As we all know, we are navigating one of the most troubling challenges this nation has ever seen in the last century. I just recently got off the phone this morning on a bipartisan Conference Call with the president from the republican and democrat numbers in the house. And talked about ways to provide the resources needed, there were a lot of conversations in this phone call on democrat and republican side, and i was very impressed with the number of democrats on the for who think the president taking actions in their states from new york to new jersey and ot a
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