Wednesday COVID-19 update: one death in state; new variant identified
One more COVID-19 death was reported in the state Wednesday, putting the state’s overall death toll at 1954. The state Department of Health reported 157 new positive COVID-19 cases, along with a slight decrease in active cases and hospitalizations.
Lake County reported three new positive coronavirus cases and three recovered cases yesterday, keeping the county’s number of active cases at 27.
Elsewhere in our area, Kingsbury County reported 35 active cases Wednesday, Moody County had 11, McCook County-8, and Miner County had two active COVID-19 cases. Brookings County reported 169 active cases as of Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, the state Department of Health confirmed another variant of the virus had been detected in the state. One case of the P.1 (or the Brazil) variant had been identified in Pennington County. State Health officials said that while only one case had been identified, it is safe to assume that other cases may exist.
The P.1 variant was first detected in the U.S. in January of 2021 and was identified in travelers from Brazil.