City, health care leaders: COVID-19 cases trending down, improved treatments arrive

Nov. 23, 2020

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Sioux Falls have started trending down or leveling off in the past two weeks, providing some optimism as city and health care leaders underscored the need to keep up mitigation efforts.

“There is some good trending that’s happening at least in the last two weeks,” Mayor Paul TenHaken said, adding hospitalizations appear to be at a steady plateau while “still operating at a very high capacity, but maybe flat high capacity, so there’s some reason for optimism.”

The key is balancing the future-tense hope with the present-tense reality, he said.

The city’s ordinance requiring facial coverings in most indoor retail settings and city-owned buildings started over the weekend.

So far, “there’s been very few problems, at least that I’ve heard about,” TenHaken said.

More than 500 businesses have taken the Safer Sioux Falls pledge, which commits them to taking proper precautions to keep customers and staff safe.

The community is working together to plan for the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, said Jill Franken, the city’s public health director.

“We know that there’s vaccines on the horizon,” she said. “As we have more information about that, we’ll share updates.”

Health care leaders said they hope to begin distributing the vaccine sometime in December.

Franken encouraged each member of the community to reflect on the question: “How you are doing?”

“I really think you should be thinking about that and taking that question very very seriously at this time and answer it honestly. We are dealing and continuing to live in uncertain times … and that can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, fear and even sadness, and I just want you to know these are very real and very normal feelings you can all be experiencing at this time.”

Hospitalizations are holding steady citywide. At Sanford USD Medical Center, 20 percent to 25 percent of all hospitalized patients have COVID-19, chief medical officer Dr. Mike Wilde said.

“They show great promise in reducing the rates of hospitalizations,” Wilde said, adding eligible patients will be contacted by Sanford, and patients can discuss the option with their care team.

The monoclonal antibody from Eli Lilly & Co. has been shown to prevent certain high-risk populations from developing severe illness from COVID-19 and to keep patients out of the hospital if administered as soon as possible after a positive coronavirus test and within 10 days of developing symptoms. In a Phase 3 trial, more than 450 newly diagnosed patients received the monoclonal antibody or a placebo infusion. Less than 2 percent of those who got the drug were hospitalized, compared with 6 percent of those who received a placebo — a 72 percent reduction in risk, Eli Lilly has reported.

Eligible Sanford patients will be contacted within 24 hours of a positive test result to schedule an appointment at the outpatient center. Initially, Sanford will prioritize patients who are 65 or older and have one chronic condition or patients who are 55 or older with two or more chronic conditions, following the emergency use authorization guidelines. The Lilly antibody drug must be ordered by a physician and is administered via a one-time infusion at outpatient therapy centers being set up by Sanford.

There are “pretty tight restrictions” on who can get the first newly approved treatment from Eli Lilliy, said Dr. Mike Elliott, chief medical officer of Avera McKennan, but the system is working through it “to get it to as many people as possible.”

An antibody treatment from Regeneron, which was received by President Donald Trump when he contracted COVID-19, also has been approved for use. Avera has been offering it through a clinical trial.

“We feel very confident we can do that actively across the system,” Elliott said. “We are working to stand up outpatient infusion centers so we can distribute this medication as quickly as possible.”

TenHaken encouraged Sioux Falls residents to “be very smart with holiday gatherings. You’re not going to hear me asking people to avoid a gathering,” he said. “I’m just asking you to be smart about what that gathering looks like.”

Thanksgiving in the TenHaken household will be his immediate family, the mayor said, adding he plans Zoom calls with the rest of his family.

The holiday season also is a good time to talk with family about wishes for care, Wilde added. That includes a plan for whether to seek hospitalization with COVID-19, how aggressive treatment the patient might want and what the plan would be upon discharge from the hospital.

“These are some things we have seen come up over and over again in the hospital,” Wilde said. “Really be thoughtful in planning if something like that were to happen.”

Elliott also called on the community to take masking seriously, sharing several situations where they have prevented the spread of COVID-19.

“Masks work. Please wear them,” he said.

“There’s just mounting scientific evidence that masks work.”

Those who compare the virus to seasonal influenza also should know there are profound differences, he said. COVID-19 this year has killed more South Dakotans than have died from seasonal influenza in the past 10 years combined.

“They’re both respiratory illnesses, but a lot of the similarities end there,” he said. “COVID is not influenza. We need to take it seriously.”

While the numbers over the past two weeks are encouraging, “I’d love to tell you we’ve turned the corner, he added.

“It’s too darned early to say that for sure.”

There are models predicting what the pandemic could do next, but “human behavior over Thanksgiving and Christmas is going to weigh into what the positivity rates are, the hospitalization rates are, the death rates are in the next few months,” Elliott said. “As much as I’d like to tell you we can predict the future with this, we can’t.”

Find COVID-19 case numbers, other updates here

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City, health care leaders: COVID-19 cases trending down, improved treatments arrive

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Sioux Falls have started trending down or leveling off in the past two weeks, providing some optimism as city and health care leaders underscored the need to keep up mitigation efforts.

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