Over the weekend, the state of South Dakota reached a grim landmark. With COVID- 19 cases rising at a staggering rate, the number of deaths from the coronavirus hit all-time highs.

Dakota News Now is reporting that in South Dakota 53 people died of the virus on Saturday and another 23 individuals on Sunday. That brings the total number of COVID- 19 fatalities in the past 15 days to 219.

As of Sunday, the total people amount of South Dakotans who have been infected with the virus has reached over 65,000 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The COVID Tracking Project (a website collecting coronavirus data on all 50 states) is reporting that the state of South Dakota has had 3,644 hospitalizations for COVID- 19 since March, 553 of those are currently in the hospital for the virus. At the time of this publication, 644 people have died from the coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic.

In neighboring states, Minnesota has seen a total of 223,581 cases since March with 2,905 dying from the virus. The state of Iowa is also setting records with the number hospitalized with the coronavirus. The Hawkeye state has seen a 19% increase in cases in the past 7 days. 167,282 Iowans have been hospitalized overall since the pandemic began with 1,985 from COVID- 19. North Dakota is another state where virus rates are surging. Currently, 400 North Dakotans are hospitalized with the coronavirus, with a total of 2,178 hospitalizations since the pandemic began. The state of North Dakota has seen a total of 570 deaths from COVID- 19 to date.

With the promise of not one, but now two vaccines on the horizon, there are signs of hope. But with a long winter ahead, people living in the midwest are facing a tough few months before a vaccine is readily made available to the general public.

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