Gov. Kristi Noem.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — Governor Kristi Noem says the current surge of COVID-19 in South Dakota is due to increased testing.
“We have tripled the amount of testing that we are doing in the state of South Dakota, which is why you are seeing elevated positive cases.”
South Dakota ranks 26th in the country in per capita coronavirus testing with about three tests per 1,000 people, according to the Johns Hopins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
Noem says health officials tell her that they are in good shape as far as hospital capacity to handle new cases.
Noem was in Sioux Falls for an update on the Jason Ravnsborg investigation, but also took questions on the COVID surge.
A reporter asked why she was spending so much time out of state campaigning for President Donald Trump when there is the coronavirus surge in South Dakota.
Because, Noem explained, a Trump defeat would mean many changes in Washington’s response to the pandemic and to a host of other issues, including taxation.
Noem has been preaching her ‘no lockdown needed’ response to COVID-19 in South Dakota, as she stumps for Trump.
(KELO.com News’ Carter Woodiel contributed to this report.)
