PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem says it’s not yet time to start reopening South Dakota’s economy.
“I don’t see us changing our behaviors in South Dakota for several weeks yet. I’ve had people asking me if I’m going to relax our mitigation measures and I’m not planning to do that..”
At least not until after the COVID-19 peak in South Dakota, she says, which is expected in mid-June.
States are debating when and how to reopen and President Trump was unveiling new guidelines to help them make decisions.
Noem says South Dakota continues to flatten the curve of the crisis. The state now has over 1,300 COVID cases, but only 36 of those are hospitalized.
“We are in a good spot. We do have a situation we are dealing with, but let’s keep our perspective as we continue to report on the situation we have,” Noem prefers to focus on the number of hospitalizations rather than the number of cases.
She acknowledges that Sioux Falls is a hotspot for the coronavirus, centered at the Smithfield Plant. She says the state is working “aggressively” to help the city through this.
A team of investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control toured the closed plant on Thursday. State and city officials were part of the tour. Noem says the CDC will put together a report and she’ll make it public as soon as she gets it.
