Three more COVID-19 deaths in South Dakota and active cases top 1300

Three additional COVID-19 deaths reported in South Dakota over the weekend and a big jump in active cases. Results continued to come in from the mass testing of Smithfield workers and their close contacts.

The state is now at 34 deaths from the virus.

There is an increase of 373 positive cases over the weekend with a new total of 3517. There are now 1336 active cases, an increase of 292 from Friday.

The Department of Health reports 2147 people have recovered and 261 are in the “ever hospitalized” category. Current hospitalizations are at 77. There have been 20,377 negative tests.

A great many of the new positive and active cases are from the mass testing last week of Smithfield Foods employees and their close contacts. State Epidemiologist Dr. Joshua Clayton says more than 3600 tests were conducted as of Friday morning. Clayton says they haven’t yet broken out all those numbers but that should be completed this week. He says it’s safe to assume the big jumps are due to that mass testing.

Clayton says most of the Smithfield tests should have been worked through by today.

Brookings County remains at 14 cases with one active. There have been 416 negative tests conducted in Brookings County.

The latest information can be found at the South Dakota Department of Health website.