SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (By Lisa Kaczke, Sioux Falls Argus Leader) – Two more people have died of the coronavirus in South Dakota, and the number of confirmed cases in the state increased by 73 on Thursday.
There have now been 48 COVID-19 deaths in the state, according to the South Dakota Department of Health.
One of the deaths was a Minnehaha County resident, and one was a Pennington County resident. One was a man and one was a woman, and one was in the 30-39 age range with the other in the 80-plus age range.
South Dakota has had 4,250 COVID-19 cases, according to the health department. That doesn’t include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. A total of 912 test results were reported on Thursday and the positive rate for the tests was 8%.
There are 1,057 active cases and 91 COVID-19 patients now in hospitals in South Dakota. There have been 27,051 negative tests.
Of the state’s cases, 15 active and 25 recovered cases are veterans receiving care at the Sioux Falls VA, according to the VA. Two of the state’s deaths have been veterans.
Indian Health Services reported that it has a total of 179 cases in its Great Plains Region, which includes the Dakotas Nebraska and Iowa.
In Brown County, the number of confirmed cases jumped 10 Thursday to 221. There are 94 active cases, 10 people have ever been hospitalized and there have been no deaths. There have been 1,066 negative cases.
There have been 130 cases tied to the DemKota Ranch Beef plant in Aberdeen with 86 of those people having recovered, said State Epidemiologist Josh Clayton.
The state health department reported hospital bed capacity in its data for the first time on Thursday. Four percent of hospital beds are occupied by coronavirus patients, while 41% are occupied with non-virus patients, and 55% percent of hospital beds are available.