SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (By ) – Four more people have died of the coronavirus in South Dakota, and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state increased by 60 on Thursday. In all, 11 of those cases were in Brown County.
Brown County has now had 154 test positive for COVID-19, and of those cases, 79 are active and 75 have recovered. Six have required hospitalization.
More than half of the cases have been employees at Demkota Ranch Beef. As of Thursday, 95 of the positive cases were beef plant employees, and 45 had recovered, according to state Epidemiologist Dr. Josh Clayton.
The state has not identified any exposure concern with employees at specific businesses in Brown County.
The state health department’s investigations of cases involve whether the case poses a risk to the general public because of the person’s job, Clayton said. The department announces there has been a risk to the public at a business if an employee had more than five minutes of close contact with the public without wearing protective equipment and the people they interacted with couldn’t be identified. The health department doesn’t announce a case at a business if the employee didn’t interact with the public and all of the person’s close contacts at the business were identified.
South Dakota has a total of 43 COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday, according to the South Dakota Department of Health.
The newest deaths were Minnehaha County residents — one woman and three men. One person was in the 50-59 age range, one was in the 60-69 age range, and two were in the 80-plus age range, according to the state health department.
South Dakota has a total of 3,792 COVID-19 cases, according to the state health department. That doesn’t include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. The positive rate for coronavirus tests on Tuesday was 9.5%.
Cases in Minnehaha County increased by 33 to a total of 3,050, and Lincoln County’s cases increased by two to a total of 195 cases, according to the state health department.
The state has 1,312 active COVID-19 cases, according to the state health department. Recoveries statewide increased to 2,437. The state health department says 290 total people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, and 85 are currently hospitalized.