As COVID-19 cases continue to accumulate in South Dakota's largest city, health officials held a press conference Wednesday to talk about what is happening and when the peak of new cases will occur.

According to Dakota News Now, the City of Sioux Falls reported 89 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total of current cases up to 1,094. The South Dakota Department of Health reported 579 total new cases statewide and a total of 5,370 active cases.

Dr. Mike Wilde, the vice president medical officer of Sanford Sioux Falls, said that we can expect to hit our peak of new COVID cases in the next three to four weeks. That would mean we will have our greatest number of cases happening between approximately September 22 and the beginning of October.

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Dr. Wide, along with Sioux Falls Public Health Director Dr. Charles Chima, and Avera Health’s Dr. David Basel, are encouraging people to get their vaccines as soon as possible. During the press conference, it was noted several times that the vaccines are free and can be had at numerous locations throughout the city.

It was also noted that a vast majority of hospital admissions are unvaccinated. According to Dr. Wilde, all but seven of the people who are currently admitted to Sanford were people who had not been fully vaccinated.

The total number of South Dakotans hospitalized sits at 229, up 13 from Tuesday. According to the South Dakota Department of Health, 8.2 percent of hospital beds in the state have COVID patients in them. However, that number is expected to rise.

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