SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) –Governor Kristi Noem has said on a few occasions that the news media emphasizes negative news about the coronavirus.
So KELO.com News asked state health officials for some good news at today’s South Dakota Department of Health bi-weekly news briefing on the virus.
“I think one thing that can help us do is to continue to remind people that they do have the ability to help protect themselves against COVID,” Malsam-Rysdon said. “We are not helpless in that regard.”
Proper hygiene includes things like handwashing, social distancing, and, in some instances, mask-wearing.
She also noted that most people don’t die, let alone get extremely sick.
“Most people do, in fact, have very mild symptoms,” Malsam-Rysdon said. “They fully recover.”
She added that older people and those who have health conditions are more at risk than most healthy people.
“So just tell that story so that people don’t misremember those facts and that they’re able to make rational decisions about their actions moving forward.”
Earlier this week, when Gov. Noem was on Fox News with Laura Ingraham, Ingraham noted that South Dakota’s death rate per 100,000 was 11 times lower than New York’s–15 to 167 per 100,000 residents.


