NEW: Watertown City Council passes resolution declaring emergency due to COVID-19 outbreak (Audio)

March 23, 2020
Mike Tanner

WATERTOWN, S.D.—The Watertown City Council held a special meeting over the noon hour Monday, and unanimously passed a resolution declaring an emergency as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The resolution, as amended, allows Mayor Sarah Caron, without prior city council approval, to close non-essential businesses in Watertown if conditions warrant.

Caron says her mayoral colleagues in South Dakota are not on the same page when it comes to closing businesses during the pandemic.

She says it’s a delicate decision, and one that cannot be taken lightly….

Caron earlier announced the closing of all city buildings to the public, effective immediately.

That move comes as the South Dakota Department of Health on Monday morning announced the first positive case of the coronavirus in Codington County.

South Dakota has 28 cases in all.