SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Kristi Noem says she will extend an executive order for two more weeks telling people in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties to stay home if they are vulnerable to COVID-19.
The order only applies to people the two counties who are over 65 or who have chronic health conditions. Those two counties, which both contain parts of the state’s largest city, Sioux Falls, account for almost 90% of confirmed cases in the state.
Health officials have confirmed 1,956 cases statewide.
Noem says she plans to sign another executive order to provide “regulatory flexibility” during the pandemic, but did not go into details about the order.
Meanwhile,
The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe is calling on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to take more action to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, saying members of the tribe are especially at risk.
Julian Bear Runner sent a letter to Noem on Thursday saying that the health and living conditions on the Pine Ridge Reservation could lead to the virus spreading at “a devastating speed.” Noem has not issued sweeping stay-at-home orders or mandated the closing of businesses.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe has enacted lockdowns on the reservation and even banished one person who tested positive for COVID-19.
That person has since recovered from the virus and it has been the only documented case in Oglala Lakota County so far.
