South Dakota confirms 97 more coronavirus cases Monday, no new deaths

Lisa Kaczke
Sioux Falls Argus Leader

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Dakota increased by 97 on Monday.

South Dakota has had a total of 3,614 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. That doesn't include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. The number of deaths remained at 34 on Monday. 

Cases in Minnehaha County increased by 85 to a total of 2,952, and Lincoln County's cases increased by three to a total of 191 cases, according to the state health department.

The state has 1,393 active COVID-19 cases. Recoveries statewide increased to 2,187. The state health department says 263 total people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, and 78 are currently hospitalized.

Gov. Kristi Noem said the state will be receiving a shipment of remdesivir, which has shown some promise in treating the coronavirus. 

More:Study: Remdesivir appears to speed recovery times in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

The state's hospitalization numbers include the number of South Dakotans in South Dakota hospitals, not those from out of state, according to state epidemiologist Josh Clayton. The state's coronavirus model takes into account only the number of South Dakotans expected to be hospitalized, but health care systems are planning for hospitalizations within their service areas, which can go across state lines.

Clayton said state officials hope to have the total number of positive tests soon from the mass testing of Smithfield employees and their families last week. A total of 3,628 samples were collected during the five-day mass testing. Gov. Kristi Noem said the preliminary results are that 24% of the tests were positive.

So far, 803 Smithfield employees have recovered out of the 853 employee cases, and 236 close contacts of Smithfield employees have recovered out of the 245 close contact cases, according to Clayton. 

More:Pop-up site for Smithfield tested 2,600 people, first results expected Thursday

Seven more cases were reported in Brown County on Monday for a total of 127 cases. A total of 76 cases are associated with DemKota Ranch Beef.

Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon applauded DemKota leadership for its response on Monday. The state health department was able to get a team into the building to do a walk-through and discuss the company's plan to curb the spread immediately after the first cases appeared among employees, she said. The company checks employees' temperature twice a day, has installed barriers between employees and provides personal protective equipment for employees, she said.