PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has cancelled the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year and is ordering more restrictions on movement in the state at COVID-19 cases rise.
Today, the governor announced she has signed an executive order that impacts people 65 and older and people with chronic medical conditions who live in the state’s two hardest hit counties — Minnehaha and Lincoln.
The order will be in place through the end of May. She says the language in the order also shifts from encouraging residents to follow the guidelines to telling them to take the actions seriously.
Noem says the executive order directs people over the age of 65 or people who have chronic medical conditions to stay home for the next three weeks. Noem says the types of medical conditions addressed in the order include chronic lung disease, asthma, serious heart conditions, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, illnesses requiring dialysis or people considered to be immunocompromised. Residents falling in those categories are told to limit travel to trips deemed critical.
In South Dakota, Noem says three of the four deaths attributed to COVID-19 fall in the categories addressed in the order.
The Governor continues to cite facts and science in decision making. She says there could be a need to extend or include other areas as the virus progresses but it was “appropriate today to address those two counties.”
The Governor on Monday also announced the cancellation of the rest of the current school year.
Noem says “it doesn’t make sense to bring kids into the classroom the rest of the year.”
She says the state Department of Education is working to outline what remote learning will look like the remainder of the school year.
Noem previously directed schools to stay closed through May 1.
