Coronavirus cases increase by 79 in South Dakota, no new deaths reported

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Dakota increased by 79, and no new coronavirus deaths were reported on Wednesday.

South Dakota has a total of 7,242 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, according to the state health department. That doesn't include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. A total of 861 test results were reported on Wednesday and the positive rate for coronavirus tests was 9.2%.

The death toll in South Dakota remained at 98.

The state has 864 active COVID-19 cases, according to the state health department. Recoveries statewide increased to 6,280. The state health department says 709 total people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, and 54 are currently hospitalized.

Coronavirus patients are occupying 3% of staffed hospital beds in the state while 52% of hospital beds are available, according to the state health department. Coronavirus patients are occupying 5% of intensive care unit beds, and 28% of ICU beds are available. Seven percent of ventilators are being used by coronavirus patients while 79% of the state's ventilator capacity is available.

Of South Dakota's cases, 77 of them have been veterans seeking care at the Veterans Affairs facilities in the state. Four of South Dakota's 98 deaths were patients at the Sioux Falls VA and no coronavirus deaths have occurred in the Black Hills VA system, according to the VA. The VA currently has 10 active coronavirus cases in the state, all of them patients and none of them VA staff.

Case increases by county

Cases in Minnehaha County increased by 21 to a total of 3,706, and Lincoln County's cases increased by five to a total of 376 cases, according to the state health department. Of the cases, 3,423 have recovered in Minnehaha County and 335 cases have recovered in Lincoln County.

Pennington County's cases increased by 16 to a total of 606 on Wednesday. Charles Mix County saw an increase of five cases for a total of 95 and Beadle had an increase of four for a total for 549 on Wednesday, according to the state department of health. 

Oglala Lakota County increased by three cases to 103 as the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation continued its 72-hour lockdown that began Monday amid a large case increase. Brookings, Lyman, Davison and Dewey counties also had an increase of three cases each for a total of 86 in Brookings, 75 in Lyman, 50 in Davison and 12 in Dewey.

Butte and Jones counties had their first positive cases on Wednesday, leaving Harding, Perkins and Potter as the only counties in South Dakota to not have any confirmed coronavirus cases.

Cheyenne River's new cases

Cheyenne River Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier announced that the tribe had 15 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the tribe's total coronavirus cases to 27. Of those, 23 are currently active cases. Confirmed coronavirus cases that are unrelated on the reservation triggers level four of the tribe's coronavirus plan, which includes using two buildings for quarantine sites in addition to the option of quarantining at home.

Dewey County has 12 total cases and Ziebach County has a total of one on Wednesday, although it typically takes a day for cases to appear in the state's coronavirus case count if they're reported in the evening.

Frazier noted in his announcement that there's been requests for a reservation lockdown, but the tribe will follow its plan and the tribal council will discuss its next steps. Level five of the tribe's plan, which occurs when there's reservation-wide community spread, would trigger stay-at-home orders.

"We just need to stay calm, stay positive and just follow our plans," he said in a Facebook video on Tuesday night.

Indian Health Services reported a total of 1,077 confirmed coronavirus cases in its Great Plains region on Wednesday, which includes North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.