Note: Today's COVID-19 update reflects reporting from 1 pm Thursday to 1 pm Friday. Tomorrow's update will reflect a 4-day reporting period, from 1 pm Friday to 1 pm Tuesday.
This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
The number of South Dakotans actively infected with COVID-19 has fallen to about 7,700.
As the omicron surge continues to fade, infectious disease experts are monitoring a new version of the variant. It’s called BA.2.
Doctor Michael Elliott is the chief medical officer at Avera Health. He's monitoring BA.2.
“It appears like it might be as contagious as the current omicron strain—it may be more severe, but I’ll caution everyone that we’re still pretty early in this and I will caution anyone to make any sweeping assessments based on the early data that we have.”
The latest report from the state Health Department includes seven new deaths, bringing the state’s toll to 2,779.
There are 211 people with COVID in South Dakota hospitals.
Data update
For more information visit: https://doh.sd.gov