The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Dakota set a one-day record Thursday at 343, but part of the jump was because the state Dept of Health suffered a coding error that led to under-reporting the number of new cases.
State Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon says the Sunday evening error during the automated geocoding process of verifying new test results into the electronic disease database was eventually identified and corrected by Wednesday evening.
By then, though, Tuesday and Wednesday totals had been released that were much smaller than they really were. Tuesday’s count of 80 new cases should have been 134 while Wednesday’s report of 66 was 226 short of the actual number of 292 new cases.
That led to Thursday’s count of 343 new cases, a new one-day record, which pushed the state total to 12,194 with 10,032 recoveries. The number of active cases hit another record at an even 2,000 – the fourth new record in the past week.
The number of COVID-19 victims currently in the hospital increased by more than 30% to 75, and no deaths were reported to leave that total at 162.
On a related subject, Malsam-Rysdon says the state has yet to receive results from the mass-testing
of Sturgis residents following the end of the Rally.
The city contracted for up to 1,300 tests – 20% of the population – but Sturgis officials say only 650 took part in the free testing and none any symptoms. The last tests were given on Tuesday.
Malsam-Rysdon says 88 South Dakota cases have been connected to the Rally, but she hasn’t received an update since Monday from other states on how many Rally-related cases they have.
In Wyoming, the Dept of Health reported 31 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 24 recoveries statewide. The numbers now stand at 3,166 cases and 2,586 recoveries with 543 active cases. There have so far been 37 deaths from COVID-19 in Wyoming.