Coronavirus Update: Cases Surge In South Dakota As Governor Refuses To Invoke Shutdown Orders

Coronavirus cases continued to surge in South Dakota Wednesday as Republican Gov. Kristi Noem refused calls to issue statewide shutdowns and quarantine orders to fight the spread of the virus.

South Dakota started April with one of the smallest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with only 129 reported cases on April 1. As of Wednesday, that number has since skyrocketed to 988 and the state is now home to one of the largest concentrations of cases in the country.

Despite the surge in cases, Gov. Kristi Noem has refused to institute quarantine measures she called “draconian” during an April 1 press briefing.

“South Dakota is not New York City,” Noem said during the April 1 briefing. She would also take the opportunity to attack measures implemented in China and across Europe to combat the spread of coronavirus.

“Our constitution ensures that the citizen's right is protected,” Noem said. “I agree with the role of our government as set forth in our state and in our national constitution.”

The Washington Post reported around 300 workers at a pork processing plant for Smithfield Foods had been diagnosed with the virus. Smithfield President and CEO Kenneth M. Sullivan said Sunday in a press release that the factory, responsible for 5% of U.S. pork production, would be closed due to the virus.

“We have continued to run our facilities for one reason: to sustain our nation’s food supply during this pandemic,” Sullivan said on the company's website. “We believe it is our obligation to help feed the country, now more than ever. We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not, even in the face of COVID-19.”

Noem argued that shelter-in-place orders would not have prevented the outbreak.

“I've seen some national stories written that a shelter-in-place would have prevented this outbreak at Smithfield. That is absolutely false,” Noem said at a press briefing Tuesday. She has instead echoed President Trump in pushing the use of malaria-drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible coronavirus treatment.

“We're going on offense to help every single person deal with this virus and be willing to fight it and get better and go home to their families,” Noem said.

Despite Noem’s stance, she has faced increasing pressure from officials in and outside of South Dakota to issue shelter-in-place and shutdown orders to try and curb the spread of COVID-19. This included the South Dakota State Medical Association, which penned an open letter to Noem on April 3 to issue shutdown orders.

“A stay-at-home order would give our health professionals the necessary time and resources to manage this pandemic,” the association said on its website. “We may soon be facing the challenges and hardships being seen in New York and other cities if a shelter in place order is not issued immediately.”