4 new COVID-19 deaths in SD, Brown County cases up 7

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Dakota increased by 76 on Thursday, with four new deaths.

That pushes the number of deaths to 17 statewide, according to the South Dakota Department of Health.

The four new deaths were Minnehaha County residents. One is in the 40-49 age range, one is in the 70-79 age range and two are in the 80-plus age range. Two were women and two were men, according to the health department.

The four deaths are the most the state has reported in one day since tracking began.

There are seven new confirmed cases in Brown County, pushing to total to 39, per the state. Twenty-two people have recovered and one person has ever been hospitalized. There have been 591 negative tests locally.

South Dakota has a total of 2,449 COVID-19 cases. That doesn’t include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested.

The state has 859 active COVID-19 cases, according to the health department. Recoveries statewide increased to 1,573. There have been 173 total people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, with 76 that are currently hospitalized. There have been 14,579 negative tests.

No new cases have been reported in connection to the Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls. The number of cases remains at 853 Smithfield employees who have tested positive and 245 non-employees who have tested positive after being in contact with an infected employee, according to the health department. The pork processing plant remains closed.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reported its first coronavirus case on the reservation, which is included in South Dakota’s total cases.

The state health department released new guidance on Wednesday for who medical providers in the state should test for coronavirus. Previous federal guidelines restricted tests to high priority patients who have a fever, cough or trouble breathing. South Dakota’s new guidelines, based on new federal guidelines released this week, includes more coronavirus symptoms and leaves it up to a doctor to determine who should be tested, state epidemiologist Josh Clayton said.

The new guidelines call for medical providers to test people who have a cough or shortness of breath, or have at least two symptoms of a fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and a new loss of taste or smell.

The state advised medical providers in its memo that not everyone may need a viral test because most people have mild illness and recover without medical care.