PIERRE, S.D. — During her daily press conference Friday, Governor Kristi Noem says the state is in a very fluid, or changing, situation when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This caveat was shared before she released projections for how the virus will impact the state in what she described as a “palms-up conversation” with South Dakotans.
She said the numbers and projections are all agreed upon by medical experts from Avera, Sanford and Monument health care systems. She reminded people 80 percent of the patients who get the virus will show no or limited symptoms.
Noem said the date and models are very dynamic. She said the data helps the state prepare for a “peak time.” That’s when the most people in the state have the virus at one time.
Noem said thanks to early measures put into place, including social distancing, South Dakota may not reach a peak until middle of June or end of June. That’s when the most South Dakotans will be sick. She said many of the mitigation measures will need to be maintained until August.
She said the state will plan for 5,000 hospital beds for the peak infection date and 1,300 ventilators will be needed. But, she says people will be in the hospital for COVID-19 long after the peak date.
She called on people to join together and keep practicing social distancing. She said people who may have the virus and not know it will help so much by just staying home.
