South Dakota governor isn't willing to shut down her state despite the rise of COVID-19 cases. |
Nearly 40,000 Americans have died from the deadly virus. The virus made it to the United States in January and Donald J. Trump's failure to take control of it will haunt him. He failed to take responsibility for ignoring the threat. He often pivots to blaming the Democrats (because of his impeachment), Barack Obama, the media, the World Health Organization and China for the virus.
Trump claims that he closed the borders to stop the virus from spreading. Once again, he failed to understand the virus doesn't care about borders. Folks who had no signs of symptoms spreaded the disease.
Trump continues to demand that Americans get back to work. He wants the country to open back up on May 1. Many governors are considering reopening their state governments and slowly bring back the economy.
There's one governor who refuses to issue a stay-at-home order.
South Dakota governor Kristi Noem is refusing to issue an order to shut down the state.
She accuses Americans across the nation of giving up their "liberties for a bit of security," vowing to go against the calls of shutting down the government. She is proudly endorsing the protests against the "stay-at-home" orders.
Infections in South Dakota has spiked from 400 to nearly 2,000 in less than three weeks. The state has confirmed they had only six deaths so far.
The governor appeared on Fox News (of course) and got "softball" treatment from Laura Ingraham.
“I had a real honest conversation with the people in our state. I told them I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of our state, of South Dakota," said Noem, who has not issued a stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus outbreak.
"I took an oath when I was in Congress obviously to uphold the Constitution of the United States," she continued. "I believe in our freedoms and liberties. What I've seen across the country is so many people give up their liberties for just a little bit of security and they don’t have to do that."
Noem responded to the blowback, saying: "What they are neglecting to tell folks is that this processing plant is critical infrastructure."
Trump is praising Noem for not shutting down her state despite the coronavirus rise in South Dakota. |
She went on to say that "the people of South Dakota can be trusted to make good decisions. We have common sense. That’s why people want to live here and that’s why I love living here."
South Dakota has more than 1,300 positive coronavirus cases reported and seven deaths, according to data compiled by Fox News.
A single South Dakota meat plant – one on the country's largest pork processing facilities – has been linked to more than half of the state's total confirmed coronavirus cases.
At least 438 employees at the Sioux Falls Smithfield Foods plant tested positive for COVID-19.
Another 107 people tested positive after coming into close contact with Smithfield workers. The plant accounts for between 4 to 5 percent of U.S.' pork production, according to the company.
"We've got one issue in a pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but outside of that, two-thirds of our state has no cases or one case in an entire county so we're doing very well as a state," Noem told host Laura Ingraham on Thursday. "We are addressing the one hot spot that we do have and aggressively testing in that area."
Noem also defended her decision not to enact a stay-at-home order.
"We should be tracking who is in the hospital, what the death rate is, and South Dakotans are doing a fantastic job following my recommendations and we've been able to keep our businesses open and allow people to take on some personal responsibility," she told Ingraham.
Smithfield Foods shuts down Sioux Falls processing plant after its workers tested positive for the coronavirus. |
"We've had a dramatic impact on the slowing down of the spread and we'll be able to handle it with a capacity in our health care systems and it's all because of decisions that the people made and the fact that we worked together to do that," she said. "And I think that's what’s been unique in South Dakota."
Here's things to remember about the coronavirus.
1. Wash your hands frequently
2. Do not touch your face (mouth, nose and eyes)
3. Cough into your elbow instead of your hands.
4. Keep a safe distance (at least 6 to 10 feet) from individuals.
5. If you're sick, please stay home.
6. There is no treatment or cure for the COVID-19.
7. Follow state and federal laws regarding this.
8. Do not hoard items like toilet paper, bread, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc.
9. Use social media like Facebook Messenger, Google Duo, Skype or social media to connect.
10. COVID-19 can live on surfaces for more than 72 hours. Including steel, plastic and cardboard.
11. A pandemic has no timeline.
12. COVID-19 doesn't care about borders.
13. If you deliberately infect other individuals, food and first responders, you will be charged with crime.