April 26, 2023: COVID Weekly Data Update

Wastewater Surveillance & New Variant:

Sequencing of the wastewater for the SARS-CoV-2 virus is done as part of the wastewater SARS-CoV-2 monitoring.  As shown below, the Omicron variant XBB has been dominant in Brookings since mid-February of 2023. 

Data from Drs. Huber and McFarland at USD based on samples supplied by the Water Department at Brookings Municipal Utilities.

There is a new subvariant of omicron called “Arcturus,” which is the XBB.1.16 variant.  Nationally, the Arcturus variant represents about 10% of the COVID cases (4/16/23-4/22/23; link), while the XBB.1.5 variant represents about 74% of the cases. 

One of the symptoms of the Arcturus variant that is different from previous variants is the presence of conjunctivitis, which causes itchy, red eyes, or pink eye.  This symptom may be more prevalent among children and young adults.  A higher level of infectivity is being reported with this new variant, but the good news is that it does not appear to cause more severe disease than previous Omicron variants.

The wastewater sequences above do not break down the different XBB variants, but based on national and regional data, most XBB variants detected are likely to be XBB.1.5.

Updates:

2023_4_26Download

Brookings County (low community level; high community transmission [% test positivity = 18% vs. 20% last week])

• Only 19% of people 18 years of age and older in Brookings County have received the updated bivalent booster (link to data here). 
• 9,588 total cases:  6 new cases this week vs. 19 in the previous week.  Of the new cases this past week:
  • 17% were under 20 years of age (vs. 0% in previous week)
  • 33% were 20-39 years (vs. 42% in previous week)
  • 17% were 40-59 years (vs. 0% in previous week)
  • 33% were 60 years or older (vs. 53% in previous week)
• 259 Brookings County residents have been hospitalized with COVID: no new hospitalizations posted this past week compared to 0 in the previous week. 
• Currently, the percentage of staffed beds that are COVID-occupied in the Sioux Empire region is 2.1% (compared to 1.8% last week), and 19.1% of the total hospital beds are available (compared to 21.9% last week).
• 67 Brookings County residents have died of COVID:  0 new deaths were reported this past week compared to 0 deaths in the previous week.

South Dakota (low community level; high community transmission [% test positivity = 15-19.9% vs. 20-24.9% last week])

• Only 22% of people 18 years of age and older in South Dakota have received the updated bivalent booster (link to data here). 
• 282,402 cases: 265 new cases this week vs. 342 in the previous week. Of the new cases this past week:
  • 15% were under 20 years of age (vs. 11% in previous week)
  • 19% were 20-39 years (vs. 24% in previous week)
  • 20% were 40-59 years (vs. 19% in previous week)
  • 46% were 60 years or older (vs. 46% in previous week)
• 12,731 South Dakota residents have been admitted to in-state hospitals with COVID: 13 were admitted this week vs. 12 last week. Of the new hospital admissions this past week:
  • 0% were under 20 years of age (vs. 0% in previous week)
  • 15% were 20-39 years (vs. 8% in previous week)
  • 15% were 40-59 years (vs. 8% in previous week)
  • 70% were 60 years or older (vs. 84% in previous week)
• 34 people are currently hospitalized vs. 29 last Wednesday (3 currently in the ICU vs. 3 last week).
• Currently, the percentage of staffed beds statewide that are COVID-occupied is 1.6% (compared to 1.3% last week), and 32.6% of the total hospital beds are available (compared to 34.1% last week).
• 3,223 South Dakotans have died from COVID:  2 new deaths reported this week vs. 7 in the previous week. Of the newly reported deaths this past week, all were aged 60 years of age and older.

USA

• 106.5 million cases:  103,511 new cases this week vs. 96,611 in the previous week
• 1.15 million total deaths:  1,070 deaths this week vs. 1,153 in the previous week

Worldwide

• 686.6 million cases: 780,879 cases this week vs. 709,342 million in the previous week
• 6.86 million deaths: 16,818 deaths this week vs. 4,848 in the previous week.  The number of deaths reported this past week is considered an anomaly resulting from updating of previous deaths.

Take care of yourself and each other.