Gov. Kristi Noem confirmed Tuesday, April 14, that nearly 70% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnehaha County can be directly traced to the Smithfield Foods plant.

The state Department of Health said on Tuesday that 438 employees had tested positive, and in a news conference on Tuesday, Noem said an additional 107 people contracted the disease from people who worked at Smithfield. Most of the new cases connected to Smithfield involve COVID-19 spreading at employees' homes, rather than among employees at the plant, she said.

Combined, that makes 545 of the county's 786 cases, or about 69%. Smithfield Foods had the third largest outbreak of coronavirus at a facility in the United States, according to the New York Times.

In response to the outbreak, Smithfield announced earlier this week they'll close indefinitely.

Noem said the state is working to continue to track those positive cases and anyone who might be in contact with the positive cases. The state also finds a place to isolate if a person can't isolate at home, she said. She said she's in discussions with Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Smithfield to bring the plant safely back online.

A Washington Post story, as well as other national news stories, on Tuesday focused on South Dakota's increasing case numbers at Smithfield while Noem has resisted issuing a shelter-at-home order for Sioux Falls. Noem took issue with those stories during her press conference, saying that Smithfield Foods would have been exempted from a shelter-at-home order because it's an essential business that is part of the food system.

Noem also again said she will not be ordering a shelter-in-place order for Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.

"I don't believe it's appropriate considering the data, the facts and the science that we have," Noem said.

She added that Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken asked her to designate an "isolation center" in the city, which would be a place like the Convention Center that could hold up to 7,000 people who test positive for the coronavirus.

"I will not be doing that either," Noem said.

Those who test positive are given the opportunity to isolate at home, or they can choose to isolate somewhere else, including a hotel room provided by the state Department of Health, Noem said.

Coronavirus cases near 1,000 statewide

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Dakota increased by 120 on Tuesday.

Cases in Minnehaha County increased by 114 to 768, and numbers jumped by 5 in Lincoln County to 55. South Dakota has 988 total cases, according to the South Dakota Department of Health. Those numbers do not include individuals who show symptoms of the virus but are not tested.

The state's death toll remained at six after no new deaths have been reported in more than a week.

State epidemiologist Josh Clayton said they're still doing contact tracing for each new positive case as a way to contain the spread, but the state is projecting that a minimum of 30% of the state's population will contract the virus.

"Even with all of those pieces, we do anticipate that our numbers will continue to rise in the state, not unlike what other states in the nation are experiencing at this time and we are focused on preventing cases as best we can," Clayton said.

Recoveries increased by 54 to 261 people, and one more person has been hospitalized. The state health department says 45 people have been hospitalized at some point in their illness since the state first reported cases.

South Dakota should brace for 'shocking' tax revenue hit

South Dakotans need to be ready to see "shocking" tax revenue in the state for April, which will be announced in the first week of May, Noem said. The state's sales tax revenue will be "significantly lower" and video lottery revenue has been "dramatically impacted," she said.

The state is funding the statewide clinical trial of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which Noem and South Dakota medical leaders announced on Monday, at a time when state revenue will be down. Noem said on Tuesday that the state wants to be "aggressive" against the virus and the state has federal funding available for the clinical trial.

Coronavirus:Sanford Health, Noem announce clinical trial to test drug to treat COVID-19

The state is still looking at a mid-June peak in coronavirus cases, with Sioux Falls peaking a couple weeks earlier than that. Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon said Sioux Falls healthcare facilities are equipped to handle the earlier influx of patients.

The state is expected to update its model projecting the virus' progression in the coming days, according to Malsam-Rysdon. Noem said state and healthcare leaders believe the projections have improved due to mitigation efforts in the state.