PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Health reports that the COVID-19 pandemic caused the state’s number of deaths to hit historic levels last year.
The provisional report also found deaths from diabetes, liver diseases and unintentional injuries reached their highest number in a decade. As the pandemic disrupted health care, doctors worried that people could see complications from other chronic diseases.
A total of 9,857 South Dakotas died during 2020, which was the highest figure in at least a decade.
Heart disease and cancer were the leading causes of death, followed by COVID-19, which killed 1,496 people.
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