SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - More than 100 South Dakota residents have died of complications due to the coronavirus in the first eight days of November, state health officials said Sunday.
The Department of Health confirmed 13 deaths in the last day, for a total of 111 this month and 536 since the start of the pandemic. The overall death count is the 24th highest per capita in the country in the last two weeks, Johns Hopkins University researchers said.
The state reported 1,426 positive tests for COVID-19 since Saturday. South Dakota ranks second in the country behind North Dakota in the number of new cases per capita in the last two weeks. The top five counties with the most cases per capita in that time are Bon Homme, Dewey, Buffalo, Potter and Sanborn, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
There are 546 people being treated in hospitals in the state, up 31 in the past day. Of those, 96 are in intensive care units and 69 are using ventilators.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
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