South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is fighting back against criticism of her decision not to impose strict coronavirus lockdowns in her state, arguing her response has been effective.
Noem, a Republican, says her state has not seen the surge in hospitals that some projections suggested. She also said the state has actually cut the projected number by 75% while the death toll sits at nine out of 1,858 total cases, with only 111 of those people requiring hospitalization.
“I think we’ve got maybe 60 people in the hospital right now,” Noem said in an interview with Breitbart News on Wednesday. “We have 2,500 beds set aside for COVID-19 patients, but we only have 63 in. We probably, from all of our projections and studying the science behind the virus, we won’t peak until the middle of June. But we already have done much better than what we had thought would have been hitting our state already.”
Noem explained that the value she places on liberty and freedom inspired her to reject strict lockdown measures and instead put the focus on social distancing and hygiene measures.
“We already have cut our peak projections by 75% just putting in place the recommendations I asked people to do, staying at home, and they’ve practiced social distancing,” Noem said. “They’ve washed their hands, and they stayed home if they weren’t feeling well and called their doctors. Just by doing that, we’ve cut the hospitalization rates by 75%. So, I’ve just been super proud of what the people in South Dakota have done — they recognized that I wasn’t going to dictate to them, that I valued their freedoms and liberties, and that I was going to let them take action on behalf of their families and communities.”
Noem also believes that a blanket approach wasn’t in the best interest of her state, citing the differences in spacing and size of the various counties in South Dakota.
“I’m not one who believes in a one-size-fits-all approach, and even in South Dakota, I’ve got pretty diverse communities,” Noem said. “I’ve got some that are pretty sparse with not many people, and then, I’ve got some that are big cities as well. So, I wanted to leave some flexibility there for local folks to make decisions but also recognizing that when it comes down to it that these guys had to take on the personal responsibility that is necessary to really go after this virus.”
Ultimately, upholding the Constitution was a top priority for Noem, who told Breitbart News that her oath to protect the rights enshrined in that document was paramount.
“The facts on the ground here did not support shelter-in-place,” she said. “We just didn’t have the spread. For me personally, I took an oath to uphold our state Constitution. I took an oath when I was in Congress to uphold the United States Constitution. So, I believe in people’s freedoms and liberties, and I always balance that with every decision that I make as governor. I get overly concerned with leaders who take too much power in a time of crisis because I think that’s how we directly lose our country someday by leaders overstepping their proper role.”
Noem has been widely criticized by news outlets, such as the Washington Post, as have officials in other states (such as Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Arkansas) who have decided to reject strict lockdown orders.
There is some data to suggest opting against lockdown orders could have some merit.
A study published by Wilfred Reilly earlier this week stated, “There is no empirical evidence for these lockdowns,” and the study came to that conclusion by analyzing information such as population, population density, median income, age, and diversity to compare coronavirus death counts in states that chose not to impose strict lockdowns (such as South Dakota) with states that did (such as New York).
Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s top epidemiologist, also said earlier this week that concerns the country received from European neighbors and the global media about not imposing strict lockdowns were unfounded.
“In major parts of Sweden, around Stockholm, we have reached a plateau (in new cases), and we’re already seeing the effect of herd immunity, and in a few weeks’ time, we’ll see even more of the effects of that,” Tegnell said. “And in the rest of the country, the situation is stable.”
Many doctors and epidemiologists are skeptical of the claims made by officials in South Dakota and Sweden, including Trump coronavirus response team member Dr. Anthony Fauci, who voiced support for shutdown measures this week.
