PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Eighteen new COVID-19 deaths were reported Wednesday by the South Dakota Department of Health.
The death toll is now at 1,464. There have been 518 deaths reported in December. The new deaths were 11 men and seven women listed in the following age ranges: 60-69 (4); 70-79 (7); 80+ (7).
On Wednesday, 562 new total coronavirus cases were announced bringing the state’s total case count to 98,720, up from Tuesday (98,158). Total recovered cases are now at 91,527, up from Tuesday (90,974).
Active cases are now at 5,729, down from Tuesday (5,738). South Dakota was last under 6,000 active cases on Oct. 12.
Current hospitalizations are at 293, down from Tuesday (303). Total hospitalizations are at 5,639, up from Tuesday (5,605).
Total persons negative is now at 272,739, up from Tuesday (272,001).
There were 1,300 new persons tested reported on Wednesday. Wednesday’s new person tested positivity rate is 43%.
The latest 7-day all test positivity rate reported by the DOH, is 16%. The DOH calculates that based on the results of the PCR test results but doesn’t release total numbers for how many PCR tests are done daily. The latest 1-day PCR test positivity rate is 19.1%.
Forty-four South Dakota counties are listed as having “substantial” community spread, while 13 South Dakota counties are listed as “moderate” community spread and nine South Dakota counties are listed as “minimal” community spread.
Vaccine tracking is now being reported by the state, as of Wednesday, 9,875 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 9,085 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered to 18,960 total persons. Vaccine data does not include vaccine given to South Dakota Indian Reservations because that is federally allocated.