It was Tuesday,  March 10th, 2020, when Governor Kristi Noem made this announcement:   “The state’s public health lab has confirmed the first presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the state of South Dakota.”  She announced five cases tied to out-of-state travel—and the state’s first COVID-related death. It was an introduction to three words that would dominate the year – COVID-19, coronavirus and pandemic.  Three days later, by March 13th, there were 1,600 cases throughout the United States.