With South Dakota’s COVID-19 peak months away, the state is preparing for another pandemic winter, but this year probably wouldn’t see a buildup in cases like the past two years.
The South Dakota Department of Health’s most recent weekly COVID-19 update showed a steady decline in reported cases and deaths. Three South Dakotans died in the past week according to the latest figures, and another 63 were hospitalized with the disease.
In 2020 and 2021, the end of the year saw an increase in the spread of the virus as autumn entered winter, but this year a doctor in Avera said cases would rise just as much.
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“It’s quite encouraging. We haven’t noticed a stable accumulation like the one seen in the last two years, at least so far,” said Dr. David Basel of Avera Health.
A year ago, there were 453 active cases of the virus in South Dakota, according to the state. As of Wednesday, the state had reported cases statewide.
Basel, an in-house physician and pediatrician, said one thing the medical network is concerned about is that the Omnicron variant of COVID-19 is more contagious than previous variants.
“Because it’s more contagious, immunity wanes faster than some of the previous ones,” Basel said.
Hospitalizations aren’t expected to increase as in previous outbreaks, Basel said, but less severe cases are possible in other people who get vaccinated or have COVID-19 in the summer.
“It’s going to continue to happen people with COVID,” he said. In terms of hospitalizations, I don’t think we’re going to go back to the massive numbers we announced last spring. “
Another merit of hospitals like Avera and Sanford Health in South Dakota is enjoying managing COVID outbreaks, Basel said.
And now, vaccines and boosters are also an option for those who need a severe case of COVID-19.
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Dr. Mike Wilde, vice president and physician at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, said hospitalizations remain low in large part due to vaccine use.
“We continue to see a low number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. With the new bivalent booster available, we propose that other people get their bivalent booster dose with their flu shot to keep themselves and others healthy this winter,” Wilde said. .
Basel has said it’s imaginable to catch the flu and COVID-19, but avoiding either virus is as undeniable as scheduling a vaccine. You can even administer either in a single visit.
Overall, South Dakota has recorded a total of 263,468 cases since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020, and a total of 3,049 deaths. Deaths are explained as people who died from COVID-19 infection.