PIERRE, S.D. – Numbers were up across the board again Thursday as the state hit another new high for new cases of COVID-19.
In their Thursday update, state health officials reported 463 new cases, a 183 increase in active cases to 3,291, 8 new hospitalizations and 8 new deaths.
The 8 new deaths were reported out of Butte, Pennington, Hughes, Brown, Minnehaha, Union and Walworth counties. Two of the deaths were out of Minnehaha. Seven people died who were 80 and above. One person died who was between 70 to 79. The deaths were five males and three females.
The number of people hospitalized is up to 194 – a new high for the state – although health officials say it hasn’t put a strain on the state’s hospitals as of yet.
State health secretary Kim Malsom-Rysdon says 35 hospitals across the state are taking care of COVID-19 patients.
“We have four hospitals that have COVID patients using ventilators for a total of 14 people. And we have 1,043 available hospital beds as of today.”
Malsom-Rysdon says a story that has been surfacing this week about South Dakota hospitals sending COVID-19 patients out of state because they are full is not true.
The state health department website indicates 8-percent of the state’s hospital bed capacity are being taken up by COVID-19 patients. As for I.C.U. beds, 11-percent of the 243 total are taken up by COVID-19 patients.
As for new cases, the Black Hills area saw 90 new cases Thursday.
Pennington County had the most, reporting 51 new cases today, sending the cumulative total to 2,142. There are 352 active cases – up 24 from yesterday.
Meade County added 13 new cases, sending the cumulative total to 500 with 109 active. Active cases in Meade are up four.
Lawrence County reported 11 new cases Thursday. The total in Lawrence rose to 373 with 91 active cases. Active cases are up 2 today.
Other new cases include 8 in Oglala Lakota, 4 in Butte and 3 in Fall River counties.
There were 1,529 new tests reported on Thursday.
