SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — A South Dakota legislator says there’s a hidden cost to the state’s COVID-19 response.
State Rep. Michael Saba had worked for months to make a deal with Egypt to buy soybeans from the state. But he says South Dakota’s COVID-19 surge forced them to back out of a planned visit.
“The group that we’ve been working on for some time which was scheduled to be in from Egypt has now had to cancel because the headlines in Egypt are that South Dakota is one of the leading states with the COVID virus,” Saba said on KELO Radio’s It’s Your Agri-Business with Bill Zortman Friday.
Saba has been in trade talks with Egypt for months. Egypt relies on imported foodstuffs like soybeans and corn to maintain its food supply.
Saba suggested the canceled meeting was a consequence of South Dakota’s hands-off approach to the pandemic.
“We need to keep our businesses open as much as we can, but now we’re paying later. Because [there are] other states now that these people from Egypt could still go into.”
Listen to the full conversation here, starting at the 35-minute mark.
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