South Dakota coronavirus graphic.
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) – South Dakota has realized an uptick in the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 this week.
Over the past two days, hospitalizations have increased by 17 to 113 today.
State health officials reported 225 new cases Wednesday, with 59 of them listed as probable.
Active cases were down by 48 to 2,391 and one new death was reported. The new death reported is a woman in the 70 -79 age range from Turner County. The new death sends the death toll to 1,948.
South Dakota Epidemiologist Dr. Joshua Clayton says over the past week, the state has seen an increase in cases.
Dr. Clayton says the COVID-19 variants continue to increase as well.
Dr. Clayton says South Dakota has at least one case of variant virus in every age group. Health officials say since April 1, 424 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in people ages 20-29, and only 17 new cases in the 80+ age range.
However, Secretary of Health Kim Malsom-Rysdon says the 20-29 year-old population seems to take vaccination more seriously.
There was also an increase in cases across the Black Hills area Wednesday.
Pennington County had 17 confirmed cases and 3 probable. Meade County added 8, 4 confirmed and 4 probable. Lawrence County added 2 total cases with one confirmed and the other probable.
Elsewhere, across the Black Hills area, Fall River County reported 3 new cases and there was one each in Butte, Custer and Oglala Lakota.
(Gary Matthews, KBHB, contributed this report.)
