The attached interview above is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment.
COVID-19 continues to surge in South Dakota. Active cases have risen to 17,219. That’s the most since November of 2020.
307 people are hospitalized with the disease. And six more people have died with COVID-19, bringing the state’s death toll to 2,528.
Chad Thury is a doctor with Avera Health in Sioux Falls. He says testing is crucial to identify infections. Many health systems offer PCR tests, but Thury says people can administer their own rapid-antigen tests.
“Nowadays if you are symptomatic and you get a positive test, you can pretty well trust that test, and from a medical standpoint don’t need to go into the clinic and get a PCR test to confirm that.”
Thury said the at-home tests are more likely to have false negatives so if you have symptoms and test negative you should go get the more accurate PCR test
He says infected people should stay home to avoid spreading the disease.
Meanwhile, Thury says vaccines help keep people out of the hospital. Most people hospitalized with COVID-19 are not vaccinated.
The percentage of eligible South Dakotans who've received a full vaccine series remains at 56 percent.
Information on free vaccines is available at vaccines.gov.
Note: The data presented is from the previous day — Tuesday updates include data from over the weekend (Saturday 1 pm CT - Monday 1 pm CT)
- State’s death toll: 2,528 (+6 from the previous report)
- Note: 'Death toll' indicates the number of deaths among people with COVID, but COVID may not have been the sole cause of death.
- Deaths verifiably caused by COVID: 2,209 (updated weekly)
- Active cases: 17,219
- Eligible South Dakotans fully vaccinated: 56%
- Currently hospitalized: 307 (+6)
- Note: Currently Hospitalized numbers include COVID-19 cases and people that are in the hospital under transmission-based precautions. The number may include out-of-state cases and people.
- Advice from the CDC is to get vaccinated, and mask-up indoors if you live in a place with high or substantial coronavirus transmission. That’s everywhere in South Dakota.