Officials report record 53 COVID-19 deaths in South Dakota Saturday

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - South Dakota has set another new record for the number of deaths reported due to COVID-19 in one day, with state health officials reporting 53 more deaths Saturday.

The state’s death toll is now at 621. The state’s previous single-day record for COVID-19 deaths was 28 on Nov. 6.

In addition to the new deaths, state health officials reported 1,855 more cases of COVID-19 Saturday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, South Dakota has recorded more than 64,000 cases of the virus. Of those, 18,747 are active.

Currently 549 South Dakotans are hospitalized due to COVID-19. 3,598 state residents have had been be hospitalized at some point because of the coronavirus.

So far, nearly 45,000 people in the state are considered recovered from the virus.

According to the South Dakota Department of Health, COVID-19 patients occupy 20.2% of the state’s staff hospital beds, and 30.5% of the state’s staffed ICU beds.

Currently, 33.9% of the state’s hospital beds are available, and 33.1% of the state’s ICU beds remain unoccupied.