Health officials report positive trends in COVID cases, hospitalizations

There’s “hope on the horizon,” Sioux Falls health officials said today, pointing to 10 straight days of active cases decreasing.

The state reported 20,824 active cases today and 312 hospitalizations. That includes 3,469 cases in Minnehaha County and 890 in Lincoln County.

But, “we’ve seen this before,” said Dr. Michael Wilde, Sanford Health’s vice president medical officer in Sioux Falls.

“We continue to encourage people to get vaccinated and a booster shot.”

That includes if you’ve had COVID-19, he added.

“We still don’t have strong conclusions to guide us regarding natural immunity.”

If you are traveling, mask with the best available product, test as appropriate based on your destination’s requirement and be aware that COVID-19 could impact your travel plans, Wilde said.

“I’m aware of people who have had to cancel vacation due to a positive travel test,” he said, adding vaccination and booster shots are the best way to prevent it from happening.

“COVID really is about the decisions we make or the chances we take.”

While hospitalizations are trending down, the average stay is still eight days, and many hospitalized patients require everything from feeding tubes to kidney dialysis to machine-supported breathing, Wilde said.

“The intent is not to fright but to make you aware of what we work with daily,” he said. “This is why we have run ads with our nurses talking about this. Your chances improve if you are vaccinated and boosted. Our chances of a future with minimal COVID in our lives are greatly improved with the COVID vaccine and booster.”

Vaccines for kids as young as 6 months might be authorized by later this month, health system leaders said.

The number of in-patients with COVID has pulled back about 20 percent to 30 recently from a peak in the last week of January, said Dr. David Basel, vice president of clinical quality for Avera Medical Group.

“We still have patients that are dying in the ICU. Last week was probably one of the deadliest weeks we’ve had on record,” he said, adding that about 25 people have died in the past seven to 10 days.

The pandemic is moving to an endemic state, similar to influenza, where there always will be a degree of it around, but it’s not overwhelming hospitals, Basel said.

At the same time, “COVID is having a significant impact on mental health,” he continued.

Here are common signs you might need to talk with someone about your mental health needs:

• Using alcohol or substances to cope. That equates to more than 14 drinks in a week for a man or more than seven for a woman, as well as more than three in one sitting for a woman and more than five for a man. “That’s not a healthy amount of alcohol,” Basel said. “Please reach out so we can help you reduce that down.”
• Acting withdrawn, sad or anxious.
• Having trouble engaging with friends, family or co-workers. “Those are clues that your mental health is needing some help,” Basel said.
• Any thoughts of harming yourself or others. “That’s a sign you need to reach out,” Basel said. “Avera and Sanford are there to help walk with you on this journey. Sometimes you just can’t do it alone.”

The pandemic has put stress in our lives unlike anything we’ve seen in years, he added.

But health leaders do see “some hope on the horizon,” Basel said. “We could see numbers really fall if we just keep at it.”