PIERRE, S.D. – For the second day in a row, state health officials reported 36 COVID-19-related deaths, sending the state’s death toll to 777.
There have been 362 deaths reported since Nov. 1. The new deaths were 18 men and 18 women. Across West River, there were 2 in Custer, 3 in Fall River, 5 in Pennington and one in Ziebach counties. All of the deaths were in people 50 and older, including 21 among those 80-plus.
Active cases decreased by 1,540 to 16,867.
The number of people hospitalized due to the virus was up 6 today to 580.
New COVID-19 cases across West River totaled 208.
In the Black Hills area, Pennington County added 71 new cases, Lawrence County had 11 and Meade County reported 12.
The total number of cases in Pennington County is 7,679 with 1,832 still active. Lawrence County’s cumulative total is 1,790 with 383 active and in Meade County, the cumulative total is 1,553 with 322 active.
Other new cases across West River Saturday included 20 in Oglala Lakota, 14 in Perkins, 13 in Todd, 10 each in Dewey and Lyman, 7 in Corson, 6 each in Gregory and Bennett, 5 in Stanley, 4 each in Butte, Custer and Ziebach, 3 each in Fall River and Mellette, 2 each in Jackson and Jones and one in Tripp.
There were 2,291 new persons tested reported on Saturday. The new person test positivity-rate is 49.5 percent for Saturday.
