South Dakota Department of Health officials say the state has the ability to test nearly 1,000 people for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Derrick Haskins, the department's director of communications, said in an email that the department has the capacity to conduct "approximately 1,900 tests" for the virus.

An individual undergoing testing for the disease would need to undergo a minimum of two of the tests — an oral and nasal swab, meaning the state can perform testing for approximately 900 individuals.

No confirmed or suspected cases of the new coronavirus have been announced in South Dakota, and as of March 6, the department said they had tested five people for it. All five tested negative.

Coronavirus in South Dakota: Confirmed cases, latest news and updates

Haskins said anyone who suspects they have been infected with COVID-19 should contact their healthcare provider by phone before going to a clinic or hospital. Whether a test is ordered depends on several factors, he said — since influenza is also circulating, "not everyone with respiratory symptoms will or should be tested."

Those factors include the patient's travel history, whether they've been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 and their risk for a severe infection.

If a test is ordered, it will be collected by a local healthcare provider and tested according to CDC guidelines.

If the patient tests positive for COVID-19, the specimen is sent to the CDC for confirmatory testing, Haskins said.

The department's website will update before 5 p.m. every weekday with the total number of positive, negative and pending tests in South Dakota.

Minnesota's first case recovering at home, officials say

Meanwhile, the patient with the state's first case of the COVID-19 coronavirus is recovering at home, said Minnesota Department of Health's Director of Infectious Disease Kris Ehresmann.

"The individual is stable and at home and doing well," Ehresmann said during a conference call Saturday morning.

Health care providers and the patient took steps to limit spread of the virus, known to cause fever and upper respiratory problems, Ehresmann said.

"We have only positive things to say. We don't have concerns now about community exposure," she said.

Coronavirus:Staying informed on the Coronavirus

More than 40 Minnesotans are in quarantine on the Grand Princess Cruise Ship, the same ship the patient with Minnesota's first case had been traveling on.

State officials got the names of 26 people in Minnesota who disembarked from that ship Feb. 21, Ehresmann said. Only two of them had symptoms and only the one tested positive for COVID-19.

-- The St. Cloud Times contributed to this report.

Clarification: An earlier version of the story misstated the amount of people that South Dakota has the capacity to test for the new coronavirus.