COVID-19 ranks as third primary cause of death in South Dakota since 2021

COVID-19 was ranked as the third primary cause of death in South Dakota in 2021, according to the South Dakota Department of Health after cancer and heart disease.

Unvaccinated South Dakotans also had a much higher rate of dying with COVID-19, according to the data set, released during a House Health and Human Services Committee hearing.

Between January and October 2021, 527 South Dakotans died due to COVID-19, an increase from 496 deaths during the same time period in 2020, according to DOH data.

The data lists those who died with COVID-19 listed as as primary cause of death, not those who died with COVID-19, according to DOH.

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During the same time period, 1,433 South Dakotans died due to cancer and 1,389 South Dakotans died due to heart disease, according to the data.

Data reported in 2021 is provisional, as DOH waits to confirm cause of death from coroners and CDC review. Data for the later half of 2021 was not available.

Daniel Bucheli, the communication director for DOH, explained that all residents of South Dakota, regardless of where they died in the United States, are counted in the mortality data. Because of this, it can lead to a delay in reporting the cause of their death.

COVID-19 leading cause of death for Native Americans

In total, between March 9, 2020 and October 31, 2021, 2,594 white South Dakotans and 280 indigenous people have died due to COVID-19.

COVID-19 was the leading cause of death for Native people in South Dakota between 2020 and 2021, according to the data.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: COVID-19 third leading cause of death in South Dakota in 2021