South Dakota reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 1,292 new cases. That’s down 18.5% from the previous week’s tally of 1,585 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
South Dakota ranked 27th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 17.1% from the week before, with 543,317 cases reported. With 0.27% of the country’s population, South Dakota had 0.24% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.
Brown County reported 54 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 45 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 11,045 cases and 124 deaths.
Across South Dakota, cases fell in 36 counties, with the best declines in Pennington County, with 218 cases from 294 a week earlier; in Minnehaha County, with 244 cases from 289; and in Oglala Lakota County, with 55 cases from 96.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Within South Dakota, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Oglala Lakota County with 388 cases per 100,000 per week; Douglas County with 377; and Moody County with 350. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Minnehaha County, with 244 cases; Pennington County, with 218 cases; and Codington County, with 69. Weekly case counts rose in 26 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Todd, Brown and Charles Mix counties.
In South Dakota, nine people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, five people were reported dead.
A total of 257,547 people in South Dakota have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 2,993 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,748,404 people have tested positive and 1,047,498 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
South Dakota’s COVID-19 hospital admissions falling
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 4. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 200
- The week before that: 208
- Four weeks ago: 170
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 63,337
- The week before that: 64,048
- Four weeks ago: 71,125
Hospitals in 10 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 15 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 21 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
