Last week, the Gazette released an article outlining how COVID-19 was on the rise in South Dakota.
Since that article was written on September 22, twenty-one more people died from COVID-19, bringing preliminary totals to 56 people within one month.
September was the worst month for South Dakota since the pandemic began with regards to numbers of affected persons, hospitalizations, and deaths. Over 8,000 people tested positive, and hospitalizations jumped from an average of 50-80 persons to an overwhelming 200+ daily average.
Overall, 482 South Dakotans were hospitalized with COVID-19 in September. This outpaced the next worst month, May, which had a total of 253 persons. In July and August, 150 and 185 persons were hospitalized, respectively. Percentage-wise, per active cases, this is a 5.7% hospitalization rate. In May, the hospitalization rate topped out at just under 10%.
This lowered rate may be reflected in part due to the lower ages of those contracting COVID-19, as those under 50 years of age tend to not require hospitalization. Overall, 15,122 people under the age of 50 have tested positive since pandemic records began in March with only 397 hospitalizations, while 1,827 people have been diagnosed positive with 1,080 hospitalized over the age of 50. The majority of deaths have been in those aged 80+, with 110 total deaths. The 50- to 79- year age group has had 94 deaths, while only 19 deaths in ages under 50 have been recorded in South Dakota so far.
This does not mean, however, that those under age 50 have not been impacted. Symptoms range from a cough and shortness of breath to loss of taste or smell, headaches, sore throat, and muscle pain. Up to 40% of people could be asymptomatic, meaning without symptoms, making it easy for this virus to spread. The viral load is also highest in the day or two before symptoms appear. Scientists are still studying why some previously healthy people end up very sick from it, while others with co-morbidities appear to weather it just fine. However, those with pre-existing conditions appear to be at higher risk for developing severe symptoms and requiring hospitalization.
To help reduce the amount of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread, epidemiologists are requesting more testing. They note that a case positivity rate below 5% means that the rate of spread may be slowing or that enough testing is being done, and anything above 10% means not enough testing is being done and active cases far surpass diagnoses. South Dakota has been averaging around 13-15% case positivity rates since the beginning of September, even though they surpassed their testing goal of 44,233 tests by more than 60%.
The South Dakota universities are beginning to offer mass testing to its students, though after an initial large uptick in cases among college-age students, the rates appear to be declining substantially. The SD Department of Heath reported 825 cases among the eight colleges in South Dakota the weeks of August 23 through September 5, and 405 cases the next three weeks for September 6-26.
Among K-12 students, cases are still on the rise. The Garretson School District reported its first student case on Monday since the school year began. The district is attributing its delay in cases to a mandatory mask policy and strict adherence to CDC guidelines, and thanks the students and staff that have been very diligent in following it.
Brandon and Sioux Falls schools have had several cases since the beginning of the school year, resulting in the quarantining of hundreds of students. Exact numbers are unknown, as the districts have opted not to share their numbers, but Sioux Falls Superintendent Jan Stavem said on Monday that .11% of students and .37% of staff have been diagnosed positive. Superintendent Stavem said mask usage was high.
Brandon School District Superintendent Dr. Jarod Larson would only confirm “handfuls” of positive cases at their most recent school board meeting on September 14. The Argus Leader has obtained at least 11 letters from the Brandon School District warning of close contact with a positive case since the school year began.
Several SD schools delayed the start of their school year, and at least three have transitioned, at least temporarily, to a distance-learning model after outbreaks in their schools. On Monday, the SD DOH reported that 347 students had been diagnosed positive in the last week. One hundred sixty-one schools had at least one active case, and 38 schools had three or more cases.
With the continued rise in cases, public health officials are requesting that people continue to follow CDC guidelines and obtain their flu shot as soon as possible. While the shot won’t prevent COVID-19, it can reduce the likelihood of getting the flu, which if contracted at the same time or after COVID-19, could make suffering worse.
Update 9-30-20: The initial press run had 13 deaths since September 22, an incorrect number. Article has been updated to reflect correct number of twenty-one deaths since Sept 22.
