Parkston nursing home residents with COVID-19 get experimental antibody treatment - KELOLAND.com

That brings the total number of deaths in South Dakota since the pandemic started to more than 1,000.

An experimental antibody treatment that received emergency approval from the FDA last month for use in high-risk COVID-19 patients, may be the key to stopping the high number of deaths in nursing homes due to the coronavirus.

In this edition of COVID-19 Beyond the Numbers, we have the story of one nursing home giving the therapy to coronavirus positive residents, which just became available to the health systems in our state a little more than a week ago.

Four residents who had just been diagnosed with COVID-19 qualified for the treatment.

“Previously our high-risk patients, we had to kind of cross our fingers and just hope for the best.

B-Mab is being used in many health settings, not just at nursing homes.

Chad Thury is an Avera family practice physician who is now offering it to his high-risk patients who test positive for COVID-19.

With outbreaks at many nursing homes across the state, this one in Parkston is grateful to now have something to offer its residents that looks promising.

Thursday's update from the Department of Health said 109 coronavirus patients were being treated in South Dakota ICUs.

(KELO) -- Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable people when it comes to the pandemic.

Just weeks ago, figures from the state showed more than a quarter of the COVID-19 deaths in South Dakota were nursing home or long term care residents.

There are dozens of nursing homes across the state in smaller communities like Bridgewater fighting to keep their residents safe from the coronavirus.