Still Waiting for a COVID-19 Peak in South Dakota? It’s Already Come and Gone

With more loss of life reported Tuesday (June 23) in South Dakota due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are reminded that this health crisis is still very real and isn't showing signs of going away anytime soon

The state's coronavirus related death toll is now 83 after the passing two elderly residents - one in Minnehaha County, the other in Pennington County.

Based on what we've been hearing for the last several weeks, it's no surprise that South Dakota is still dealing with the effects of the virus well into the month of June. In fact, for the longest time, this was the month that health officials said would bring with it the peak of infections in the state.

But some new numbers suggest that South Dakota's COVID-19 spike has already come and gone.

Using data from the New York Times, Reddit user bgregory98 says the state saw its highest coronavirus numbers back on May 13, six weeks ago. On that day, South Dakota had 3,732 total cases, including 1,326 active cases. Today (June 23), active cases in the state dropped below 800 (773) for the first time since May 6.

The latest numbers show at least nine states (Arizona, South Carolina, Florida, Utah, Texas, Nevada, California, Georgia, and Oklahoma) are still operating at peak levels.

To date, COVID-19 has infected 2.38 million Americans and led to 123,000 deaths nationwide.