PIERRE, S.D. (By Lisa Kaczke, Sioux Falls Argus Leader) – Four more people have died of the coronavirus in South Dakota, and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state increased by 42 on Thursday.
South Dakota has a total of 115 COVID-19 deaths, according to the South Dakota Department of Health.
Two men and two women died of the coronavirus. One was a Minnehaha County resident, one was an Oglala Lakota County resident, one was a Todd County resident and one was a Union County resident. One person who died was in the 30-39 age range, two were in the 60-69 age range and one was in the 80-plus age range, according to the health department.
South Dakota has a total of 7,694 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, according to the health department. That doesn’t include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. A total of 493 test results were reported on Thursday and the positive rate was 8.5%.
The state has 842 active COVID-19 cases, according to the state health department. Recoveries statewide increased to 6,737. The state health department says 757 total people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, and 61 are currently hospitalized. There have been 86,343 negative tests.
In Brown County, there have been 363 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 21 of which are active, according to the health department. There have been two deaths, 19 people ever hospitalized and 3,521 negative tests.
Codington County has 96 confirmed cases, according to the state, with 20 active. There have been no deaths, six people ever hospitalized and 2,226 negative cases.
Coronavirus patients are occupying 2% of staffed hospital beds in the state while 54% of hospital beds are available, according to the state health department. Coronavirus patients are occupying 4% of intensive care unit beds, and 31% of intensive care unit beds are available. Five percent of ventilators are being used by coronavirus patients while 80% of the state’s ventilator capacity is available.
Cases in Minnehaha County increased by six to a total of 3,802. Pennington, Oglala and Meade counties each had an increase of four cases to 679 in Pennington, 122 in Oglala Lakota, 58 in Meade, according to the health department. Cases in Buffalo County increased by three to 89 total.
Unemployment claims
The number of South Dakotans applying for unemployment ticked up slightly last week.
A total of 1,160 initial weekly unemployment claims were filed with the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation during the week of July 5-11, compared to 835 initial claims during the week prior, the department announced Thursday.
However, the number of South Dakotans with ongoing unemployment claims continued to decrease. A total of 15,942 residents had continued unemployment claims after their first initial week during the week of June 27, according to the department. That’s a decrease from a pandemic high of 25,186 during the week of May 3.