On Tuesday, the South Dakota Department of Health announced 720 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 65 probable cases. This was in addition to the 193 new cases on Monday and 211 new cases on Sunday, bringing current active cases of COVID-19 to 3,114, a number not seen since January, when active cases were on a downward slope.
June and July of this year had seen so few new cases that the DoH had opted to report weekly instead of daily. That changed in the beginning of August, when cases began climbing significantly again.
In Minnehaha County, the DoH reported 590 people with active cases on Tuesday. Thirty-seven of those were new. Lincoln County reported 163 active and 14 new cases, and Moody County had ten active cases. Statewide, 141 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 59 of those in the Sioux Empire hospital systems (Sioux Falls, Brookings, and Madison).
Much of the state is back under a "High Community Spread" designation, a significant difference from July, when most of South Dakota was either a "No" or "Low Community Spread" designation.
The guidelines for how to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 are the same, with an added recommendation for immunocompromised people to get a third booster vaccine. Those guidelines are to get vaccinated, mask up, social distance, wash hands, and stay home if not feeling well.
