South Dakota has broken its record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths, and new cases multiple times in recent days, but state health officials are backing up Gov Kristi Noem’s contention that the record case load is due to increases in testing.
On the other hand, more testing doesn’t explain why the number of hospitalizations and deaths are up. Last month set a new record for deaths at nearly twice the previous mark and October has already passed the record with half the month to go.
The South Dakota Dept of Health reported 876 new cases, 3 deaths, and 303 hospitalizations yesterday, driving the totals to 30,215 total cases, 291 deaths, and 23,320 recoveries. The state currently has 6,604 active cases – another new record.
The Wyoming Dept of Health on Wed reported 174 new cases, 78 recoveries, and no deaths for a total of 1,517 active cases. The total number of cases since the pandemic started is 6,914 with 5,340 recoveries, and 57 deaths.