Two Coronavirus variants detected in Brookings County

The South Dakota Department of Health confirms that additional variants of the COVID-19 virus have been detected in South Dakota.

This includes one case of the South African variant and five cases of the California variant. The announcement comes two weeks after the U.K. variant of COVID-19 was initially detected in the state, and is now at 14 cases.

Both the the U.K. variant and the lone case of the South African variant have been detected in Brookings County. The U.K. variant has also been found in Lyman, Minnehaha and Pennington Counties and the California variant has been detected in Roberts County.

The Department says available COVID-19 vaccines have shown some reduced effectiveness against these variants but still offer good protection.

State Epidemiologist Joshua Clayton says continuing mitigation practices, like washing hands, social distancing, and staying home when you’re sick, help slow transmission rates. He also says getting tested as soon as COVID-19 symptoms are detected is key.

March 26, 2021