ABERDEEN, S.D. (By Scott Waltman swaltman@aberdeennews.com) – Five more deaths from the COVID-19 virus were confirmed by the South Dakota Department of Health Wednesday.
That moves the statewide total to 29. The new deaths were in Minnehaha County.
State Epidemiologist Josh Clayton said five more cases were confirmed in Brown County, which pushes the local total to 76.
Of those, 44 are employees at DemKota Ranch Beef, Clayton said. That number is unchanged from Tuesday.
The other cases are from more general community spread and are not the result of a particular outbreak, he said.
Statewide, there were 58 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed Wednesday, according to the health department. Of the 2,779 cases across South Dakota, 773 are active.
There have been 230 hospitalizations and 16,637 negative tests in South Dakota.
State officials said the number of cases is expected to increase in days to come as testing increases. People need to keep taking personal precautions as that happens, he said.
Now, the state can do about 3,000 tests a day, with that number expected to increase to about 5,000.
Health care providers still determine who gets tested, Clayton said.
In Brown County, 32 people have recovered, three have ever been hospitalized and there have been no deaths. There have been 673 negative tests.