PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Health gave an update today on how COVID-19 is affecting the state’s long term health care facilities.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Joshua Clayton says 542 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among residents and staff at long term care facilities in the state.
“We have had, in South Dakota, the break down of those 542 cases. 249 of them are residents and of those, 65 deaths have occurred. That does mean, that among the deaths that we’ve had as of mid-week last week, long term care residents accounted for 48-percent of all deaths.”
On the staffing side, Dr. Clayton says they have seen 243 cases.
He says South Dakota ranks fifth lowest in terms of case rates.
“South Dakota ranks fifth lowest in terms of our case rate, with 20.3 cases per 1,000 residents. This is in comparison to New Jersey who has the highest case rate at 359.2 cases per 1,000 residents. Now, the death rates at those long term care facilities show South Dakota has a rate of 4.7 deaths per 1,000 residents. In comparison, Massachusetts holds the highest rate with 124.0 deaths per 1,000 residents.”
Dr. Clayton says the Department of Health as of now supports the essential long term care facility testing of both residents and staff. However, he says eventually, those facilities will get antigen testing platforms so they will be able to conduct COVID-19 testing themselves.
