Health officials ask for holiday caution amid case decline

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota health officials on Wednesday urged people to take coronavirus precautions during the holidays, saying gatherings threaten to undo the state's recent success in slowing infections.

December has been marked with good news, with new cases continuing to decline and COVID-19 vaccines arriving. The Department of Health reported 531 more people tested positive and no new deaths. However, the state this month has still reported the nation's highest rate of deaths per capita.

Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said the arrival of the state’s first allotments of vaccine and the absence of a post-Thanksgiving spike in cases offered some reason for hope, though holiday gatherings still posed a threat.

“We really do have a light at the end of this tunnel, we just need people to hang in there,” she said.

Health officials worried that people would let their guards down during the holiday, especially after the danger of infections has waned from a November peak.

“The opportunity is for people to think that it's OK to go back to pre-pandemic behavior," Malsam-Rysdon said. "We want to make sure people stay with what they need to do through this next holiday period so we don't see a post-Christmas spike.”