Brown County's COVID cases up 45.5%; South Dakota cases surge 21.8%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
Fifth-grade students in Fairfield Elementary School play during recess on the first day of school Sept. 6 in Eugene, Oregon. Students can now play with different classes during recess, a loosening of COVID protocols.
Fifth-grade students in Fairfield Elementary School play during recess on the first day of school Sept. 6 in Eugene, Oregon. Students can now play with different classes during recess, a loosening of COVID protocols.

New coronavirus cases leaped in South Dakota in the week ending Sunday, rising 21.8% as 1,173 cases were reported. The previous week had 963 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

South Dakota ranked 23rd among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 7.7% from the week before, with 436,694 cases reported. With 0.27% of the country's population, South Dakota had 0.27% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 24 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Brown County reported 48 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 33 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 11,126 cases and 124 deaths.

Within South Dakota, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Mellette County with 970 cases per 100,000 per week; Charles Mix County with 753; and Moody County with 456. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Minnehaha County, with 172 cases; Pennington County, with 123 cases; and Charles Mix County, with 70. Weekly case counts rose in 37 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Charles Mix, Moody and Codington counties.

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>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Across South Dakota, cases fell in 18 counties, with the best declines in Pennington County, with 123 cases from 156 a week earlier; in Clay County, with 16 cases from 27; and in Grant County, with 13 cases from 19. ​

In South Dakota, 12 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, nine people were reported dead.

A total of 259,683 people in South Dakota have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 3,014 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 95,658,236 people have tested positive and 1,053,419 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

South Dakota's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 18. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 111

  • The week before that: 132

  • Four weeks ago: 176

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 57,618

  • The week before that: 58,248

  • Four weeks ago: 66,210

Hospitals in 15 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 14 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 22 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Brown County reported 48 additional COVID-19 cases this week this week