COVID

Shankar Kurra, M.D., discusses how to reduce COVID exposure risk now that a judge has voided the federal mask mandate on public transportation.

Dr. Joshua Crabtree is senior vice president of clinical operations at Sanford Health. He joins us with a COVID update where we look to the pandemic horizon as well as discuss the basics for dealing with COVID here at home.

"I'm telling folks to weigh their risks and understand their health conditions. I think we can have really good confidence in the recommendations from the FDA and CDC. And hopefully, with time we get more evidence to support the safety and the efficacy of the vaccines."

A partnership between Avera Research Institute and the Arkansas Children's Research Institute will study the long-term effects of COVID-19. This study is open to children and young adults under the age of 25. Amy Elliott is Chief Clinical Research Officer at Avera Research Institute.

BA.2 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. It's more prevalent overseas, but there are cases in the United States. How should we behave in the face of this new information?

There are 64 people with COVID-19 in South Dakota hospitals. The number of South Dakotans actively infected with COVID has fallen to about 2,400.

Chinese authorities are reporting a new, fast-spreading variant of COVID-19.

The CDC reports that all of South Dakota is now at low or medium COVID-19 spread level. They say vulnerable populations should continue taking basic precautions.

This week marks two years since the first COVID-19 cases were announced in South Dakota. Pandemic fatigue and evolving policies make it tricky to know if you're doing the right thing. Here to reflect on the pandemic in South Dakota and offer his own advice is Shankar Kurra, MD is Vice President of medical affairs at Monument Health.

There are 147 people with COVID in South Dakota hospitals. Meanwhile, the CDC has a new metric for masking. For people who live in a county considered at low or medium risk, new guidance gives the green light to take off masks.