SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The new year is resulting in a lot of new COVID-19 cases in South Dakota.

New numbers released today show over the past four days, the state health department is reporting over 3,000 new cases.

The line is long at this Sanford testing site on the north side of Sioux Falls.

People in all of these cars are waiting to find out if they have COVID-19.

According to the Department of Health’s website, as more people get tested, more positive cases are being reported. The positivity rate is rising in many states, including South Dakota. Health officials here in KELOLAND say the omicron variant is the circulating virus.

As people gathered for New Year’s Eve bashes over the long weekend, a lot of people are now ringing in 2022 infected with COVID-19 and that includes here in KELOLAND.

The number of active COVID-19 infections in South Dakota has jumped from nearly 8,800 on Monday to more than 10,000 today.

The latest report includes data from four days of reporting, due to the long holiday weekend.

“During the holiday’s individuals may not seek testing right away, so a little bit of what we may be seeing today are delays in seeking testing and a little bit of delay in reporting of those tests,” Dr. Joshua Clayton State Epidemiologist said.

There were also some delayed reports last week from health care facilities.

According to the Health Department’s website one in four tests are now coming back positive.

In addition to calling your doctor and waiting in line, or buying a test at the store, you can also request a saliva test kit from the state’s website.

“The method of collection is the collection kit is sent to you you do a short video with a person on the other end who helps guide you through to collect that specimen you package that up and ship it to our laboratory and it’s tested and you get the results in a few days,” Dr. Clayton said.

There are now 10,753 active cases across the state, a number we haven’t seen since mid December of last year.

261 people remain hospitalized. At Avera McKennan Hospital and Sanford USD medical center in Sioux Falls a majority of patients in intensive care are infected with COVID-19.

The state reported four more deaths due to COVID-19 bringing the statewide death total to nearly 2,500.