Gov. Noem's Press Conference 11-18-2020

Name: Gov. Noem's Press Conference 11-18-2020
Uploaded: 2025-03-06T02:26:31.260Z
Duration: 34 min 55 s
Channel: Kristi Noem
Description: #Kristinoem #Politicians

Kristi Noem

1 Video View·Mar 6, 2025 #Kristinoem #Politicians

#Kristinoem #Politicians

Well, thank you, everybody. Good afternoon. I'm joined today with the Secretary of Health, Kim Malsom-Rysdom, and I have several updates that I'm going to run through for you today, and then I'll open it up to your questions. First, I want to address the federal dollars that we received in the CRF fund. It was $1.25 billion that came to the state of South Dakota, and we are fast approaching the December 30th deadline for spending that money. I'm continuing to ask Treasury for flexibility and an extension on spending those dollars. I visited with the leadership while I was in Washington, D.C., and Congress as well, and asked them to continue to push to give us more time to spend these dollars to respond to the needs of the people of South Dakota. Again, we will be dealing with this virus in 2021, and we want to make sure that we have the resources to meet the needs of our healthcare workers and the families that are still continuing to struggle through this pandemic. My team is still continuing to be in touch with Treasury going forward, and that will certainly help a lot of the individuals that are being affected in our nursing homes as well as those healthcare workers. I also wanted to talk about that $1.25 billion and how it is being spent to help our schools. We launched the K-12 Connect program. That would help some families afford internet access that maybe couldn't before for a lot of these kids that need to do distance learning while being quarantined or in areas of the state that are struggling. Now families, in order to qualify for this program, need to meet income eligibility guidelines for free and reduced lunches and for that program in their school district. Internet service would be provided to them through June 30, 2021. So we've expanded the eligibility of that program to include homeschool families as well. But it's extremely important that we all focus on the fact that the enrollment deadline for this K-12 Connect program is November 20. That's in two days. So go to k12connect.sd.gov to apply, and we're hopeful that we can get those kiddos in their homes connected to the internet to do their distance learning. I also wanted to give an update on our small business and healthcare provider grants. We received just under 6,000 grant applications, and that's roughly 5,100 small businesses and startups, 600 nonprofits, and 200 community health and acute care providers. Now based on the program as it's currently structured, there's still going to be funds available after all of this is allocated. So we're looking at options on how we can expand this grant and also looking at ways that we could use this money to help those that have been affected by the pandemic. I'd like to reiterate that the importance of all of this money is that it has to be obligated by the end of the year. So we'll have more updates for you in the future on ways that we can get that done in a way that is accountable to the guidelines that Treasury has given us. We're also looking at ways to get hazard pay out to our healthcare workers. We know that they certainly are dealing with a lot of consequences of their service to the public at this time. You can see all of the details on our COVID-19 spending information by agency on open.sd.gov. Now while I was out in D.C. the last couple of days, I met with several of our cabinet secretaries. I met with a labor secretary, Eugene Scalia, and he and I spoke at length about the labor force and what we can do to continue to work to put forward the strong labor force and market that we have in this state. Workforce development was a topic of conversation, how we can recruit and train more skilled workers to start and expand their careers in the state of South Dakota. We've got a lot of businesses and families interested in moving here or have already moved here. What we can do to get them trained to fill the jobs that we need filled in this state is incredibly important. We're expanding apprenticeships and we'll be doing and coordinating that with many businesses to help launch those careers. You've all seen our marketing campaign that we've had with law enforcement officers. We have had law enforcement officers in the hundreds apply for positions here in the state of South Dakota from over 25 states across the nation. I think they recognize that we respect the work that public safety officials are doing in our communities to keep them safe and they want to come join our team and be a part of the great people in the state of South Dakota. We welcome them to join us and we're going to continue to expand on those efforts in other industries as well. Stay tuned. I visited with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and we talked about South Dakota's energy, especially ethanol and wind and what potential there is today and in the future. Over the past several months, six large wind farms have been under construction in South Dakota with an additional project that is already under construction and will be ready to be completed in September. This is a $2 billion investment in our state's economy and it's going to continue to help us grow. Now, the Bureau of Finance and Management has all the details on those critical projects and we also talked extensively about what we can bring to the table to make sure that our families in the state and across the nation have an affordable energy supply long into the future. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and I spoke at length about preserving monuments, about what we can do to ensure that fireworks will continue in the future at Mount Rushmore, and about protecting our public lands and some of the maintenance needs that we had at some of our national parks here in the state. Other states are also looking at monuments but in a different way of South Dakota. I talked to him about our freedom.sd.gov project, which would raise funds to put statues on our Capitol Rotunda, and told him about the encouraging work we see there to continue to build on recognizing our leaders from the past and our history. I'd like to remind you all that we do have a website that you can visit to learn more about that project or to donate if you want to be a part of it. It is at freedom.sd.gov if you'd like to help us with that. I also met with Attorney General Barr and we talked extensively about big tech and about some of the discussions that are going on on Capitol Hill, what that would mean for and accountability, and also making sure that we have an access to an unbiased and fair social media platform going forward. We'll continue to have conversations with him and some of the litigation measures that he's involved in and how it will impact the people of our state. I also wanted to take some time to visit with you today about the current COVID-19 situation here in the state of South Dakota. I know that as I've talked to folks across the state over and over again, people are tired of this virus. They are exhausted, and we all are. I want to personally thank all the frontline workers, the doctors, the nurses, the staff in our healthcare facilities that have been doing incredible work taking care of folks that have been impacted by the virus in very substantial and extreme ways. I want to also thank our educators because they're filling in for staff that isn't there We have a need in a lot of our public schools for substitute teachers to fill in and to help get those kiddos the education that they need. We also have our farmers who just are wrapping up harvest, who put in long hours and oftentimes with not quite enough help to get it done without putting in very long days. Our truck drivers, our stocking, our shelves, our small business owners are being flexible and they're doing incredible things in unique ways to make sure that they're providing for the families in their communities. And so many unnamed South Dakotans are serving each other. They're taking care of each other, and I just want to tell them thank you. To those who are in the vulnerable population who haven't seen their families in months and to all of those who haven't had the opportunity to see their loved ones, I just want you to know that our heart breaks for you and that we think of you and are hopeful that soon we will be to a point where we have a vaccine and therapeutics that give us an opportunity to reunite you with your families. We are here in this fight with you and we are going to get through this together. I do need to remind everybody about some common sense steps that we can take to help slow down the spread of this virus. And number one, the recommendation is to wash your hands and to continue to do that diligently, that you practice good hygiene, that you stay home when you are sick, and you make sure that you're extra special careful around that vulnerable population that should need hospital care if they were to catch the virus. Remember that the key steps that we've taken at this point to remind everybody of where we've been. In January, the Department of Health, under the leadership of Secretary Kim Malsom-Risden, launched covid.sd.gov and began providing me with weekly updates, and we opened an emergency operations center. On February 10th, the Department of Health activated the internal EOC and one month later, on March 10th, we had our first confirmed cases and our first death. At that time, the models told us that if we didn't take any action on our worst day that we were going to have 10,000 people in the hospital in the state of South Dakota due to covid-19. We provided South Dakotans with the facts of what we knew of the virus at that time, the data, the science, and what was happening here on the ground in our state. And we continued to do that as it was made more available to us. And then I trusted the people of this great state to take personal responsibility and to make the best decisions they could for their families and for their loved ones. Then in late April, I announced our back to normal plan. Since then, we've focused a lot of our time and effort on protecting the vulnerable population, focusing on hospital capacity, ramping up testing so that we can identify those who test positive and also get them isolated. In August, we were conducting 1,700 tests per day. In September, we conducted 2,600 tests per day. In October, we jumped that up to 4,800. Tests per day were being conducted across the state of South Dakota. Today, we are conducting approximately 5,800 tests per day on South Dakota folks. We offered mass testing to all of our tribal communities. We tested every single inmate in our Department of Corrections facilities. And we are currently in the process of doing mass testing in 11 communities throughout the state. As we're getting results back from those community mass testing events, we're seeing a 10% positivity rate out of those events. 34% of those positive results do have symptoms. And again, throughout this whole period, we focused on hospital capacity. And today, I'm encouraged by the fact that our hospitals are reporting that 33% of our state's staffed hospital beds are available for people should they need it. Across the country and around the globe, cases are increasing. Over the past week, cases are on the rise in 48 states. Some have said that my refusal to mandate masks is the reason why our cases are rising here in the state of South Dakota. And that is not true. Others have said that my refusal to advance harsh restrictions like lockdowns is another one of the reasons why our cases are rising. And that is also not true. There are 41 states that have some kind of a mask mandate. Cases are on the rise in 39 of those 41 states. Now some in the media are saying that South Dakota is the worst in the world right now. And that is absolutely false. I'd encourage you to look at the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. There you'll see that there are other states with far higher new confirmed cases per 1,000 people compared to South Dakota. I'd encourage you to look at our mortality rate over the course of the pandemic. South Dakota continues to remain below the national average and far below other states like New York and New Jersey. And I also want you to look at our case fatality rate. South Dakota has the 7th lowest case fatality rate in the country, meaning that we are doing a great job taking care of people and our frontline workers are doing their due diligence and the best that they possibly can to take care of patients who would get sick. As we learn more about this virus, it's becoming more and more clear that there is a vulnerable population that we absolutely have to protect. 56 of those people that we have lost to this virus occurred in those that were over the age of 80. When we look at how many had underlying medical conditions, 97% of the people that we tragically lost had underlying medical conditions. And 51% of deaths occurred among residents in our nursing homes or our assisted living facilities. We need to take extra precautions to protect those folks, that vulnerable population to ensure that we're keeping them from getting the virus before we can get them the vaccine. Now to all of you, my request is that when you report on the cases as they are in South Dakota and what we're doing is that we report all of the facts. I'm also going to ask South Dakotans to be extra diligent about their personal hygiene and to stay home if they are sick. I'm going to continue to trust South Dakotans to make wise and well-informed decisions for them and for their families. And I'm also reiterating my request that we all continue to show each other respect and understanding for everybody who makes choices that we may or may not agree with. And I ask that we all trust each other and remember that we're all human beings working to get through this challenge together. It is a testament to the people of South Dakota and we all need to remember that our greatest enemy is the virus and that we can tackle this together. So with that, I will open it up to any questions that you may have. Yeah, JP from KORN Newsradio. Sure, go ahead. Thank you very much. Once again, you're stressing the basics that we need to do. We need to wash our hands and practice good personal hygiene and such. But I noticed the lack of anything about use of masks. Well, I've consistently said that people that want to wear masks should wear masks and people who don't shouldn't be shamed because they choose not to. You know, it has been clear from the beginning that I'm not in favor of mandating mask wearing. I don't believe that I have the authority to mandate that and that people can use their own personal responsibility to make a decision when it comes to masks. Governor Noem, Angela Kennecke from KELO. I have somewhat of a follow up to that question. Your health department has consistently said if you can't socially distance, wear a mask. Yet you don't talk about wearing a mask in your latest PSA public service announcement and you haven't been modeling that in public at the Dakota Dome, places like that when you're close to other people. Do you think that you should be wearing a mask or telling people to wear a mask in a PSA if that's what the health department is telling us to do? Well, the PSA specifically reminded people that we needed to be diligent and it was there and renewed because I wanted to thank our frontline health care workers and make sure that they knew that they were appreciated. I did wear a mask at the USD Dome and people that were there will tell you that I did the entire time until a group of young boys asked me to take a picture with them without a mask on. But I did follow the Board of Regents policies and I do wear a mask where it's appropriate. And then I don't when I'm out in other places outside and in smaller groups and with my family. And again, I think that this is part of what we've seen on social media and part of what we've seen in the media is not giving the full picture and the full facts of the situation that we're dealing with. And what's unfortunate is that we're seeing a lot of division. We're seeing a lot of people being hard on each other. We talk often about the government's role in a situation like this and dealing with a pandemic. And at this point, frankly, I'm getting even more concerned about how neighbors are treating neighbors and how people are treating each other in their communities. So that's why I'm continuing to ask for respect that you may choose to wear a mask and be concerned about the virus. And if people are scared, I'm going to remind them they should stay home. But if people choose not to, we still should treat them with respect and understand that they're making a personal decision. And if we don't want to be around them, we have the opportunity not to do that as well. And I think in South Dakota, we really can take a different approach than what we're seeing across the nation and really approach this in a way that we remember. We're all human beings and we all appreciate each other. And even though we're dealing with a pandemic, we can get through it together. The South Dakota state. Sure. With the pandemic and the rising cases, just in general, well, the biggest issue for us and what we're focused on in the state is working with our health care providers and making sure they have the staff that they need. I think they are challenged with staff members that may have caught the virus or have been exposed to somebody who caught the virus, and that leaves them shorthanded during their shifts. So we're in regular contact with them. And I can let Kim talk to this, too, about what do they need from the state of South Dakota? What can we do to be helpful? They have made no asks of us at this time. Our health care providers have not come to us and told us that they need something from us. But we're consistently having those conversations, letting them know that we will help them with resources if it's available. Governor, this is Stephen Gross. Kim, do you want to talk about that? Let's let's we'll go to the next question. But first, I want to let Kim speak a little bit to staffing concerns in our hospitals and our clinics. Thank you, Governor. Kim Olsen rising with the Department of Health. Staffing in health care has long been an issue, and this is not new. It's certainly exasperated when we have situations like covid. The way covid really stresses health care workers is we obviously need to be wearing more PPE. We need to have heightened infection control procedures. We might need to see the environment of health care setting change to keep people safe, both patients and health care workers. And so all of that can really put a strain on our workforce. And that's really what we're what we're dealing with now. I can't say enough. And I've heard the governor say this as well about the leadership of the health care systems in our state. And that's not just the three big systems that's across the board. These are clinics. These are hospitals that are stepping up day by day, doing the right thing, coming to work and taking care of people. And I know that that commitment lasts and will last through through this pandemic. And our health care systems will continue to make changes as they need to. Just last week, we talked about, you know, the need to surge administrative staff that have a medical background to do direct care. We've done a lot of that within the Department of Health and health care systems are doing the same thing. And that's what we do in South Dakota. We, you know, roll our sleeves up and we get the job done. And so I just can't say enough about the good work that the health care community is doing in our state. Stephen, why don't you ask your question and then we're going to go back to Austin. Sure, thank you. So when I've talked to nurses and doctors across the state, the number one thing that they have pressed is for a mask requirement and encourage and strongly encouraging masks. The State Medical Association called for that today. So, you know, with you addressing the need for from health care providers, I'm wondering, you know, what do you say when you hear from those doctors and nurses who want a mask mandate and say that this is one of the best ways to ease the burden that's being placed on them? Well, I think we've seen different communities across the state take different actions related to masks and requiring them. I have continued to look at those communities, but also look at other states that have masking requirements and to see if the results produced what they thought it did. There are many states that do have mask mandates in place and some that do not. But I look at their rate of spread. And the fact is, is that cases are increasing in many of those states as well. If you look at Wisconsin, they've had a mask mandate since August and they have a higher rate of spread than the state of South Dakota. You look at Montana, they've had a mask mandate in place since July. Both of those states have higher rates of spread than the state of South Dakota. When you look at Wyoming, it has the fastest spread in the nation. And that is the concern that I have as many times. I don't want to approach a policy or a mandate just looking to make people feel good. I want to do good and actually put forward provisions that make a difference for families. And these local communities have some flexibility today that Sioux Falls can make a different decision than Rapid City. Rapid City can make a different decision than Lemon, South Dakota. Watertown can make a different decision than Pierre. And that's what some of these local leaders are doing and reacting to the people in the community based on what they want. Yeah, go ahead. You know, just talking about some of the anecdotal evidence and what we've heard from doctors and nurses across the state about being overwhelmed and how full hospitals are. How much have you heard of that and what would you say to people saying that? And how prepared are we for a potential surge going into the wintertime? Well, thank you for that question. You know, we do hear from health care professionals that are feeling stressed. And so we have since the pandemic began, had very good communication with our health care providers. We host a weekly call with them. It's you know, it's informational. It's to hear their input. And so we are hearing that in certain situations. But again, we've got to look at the full picture here. We've got to look at how beds are being used. There's significant flexibility in our health care system. And I think sometimes we you know, you don't always understand that. And that's at all levels of care. And so we are nimble. We are flexible. We see beds changing in their use to be able to accommodate the need of patients. And I'm I'm confident that that's going to continue. We are seeing people being treated for non covid reasons. And that's important as well. And we want to we want that to continue as long as possible. But we've got a lot of dynamics at play. And I'm optimistic that that we are going to meet the need. As you well know, we've got long term surge plans, kind of worst case scenario surge plans. And we're not we're not at the point of needing to really look at those at this point. And but as the winter goes on, we're going to need people to do what they need to do. One of the other things I would just make a pitch for is get your flu shot. We don't need hospital beds taken up by people who could have prevented a case of influenza by getting a vaccine that is safe and effective. And so there are things that all of us need to be doing every single day to stay safe from covid and stay safe from other things that can cause strain on our hospital system. So all of those things are going to be important as we move into the winter months. And we'll keep messaging that and hoping people will take that seriously. Governor, I have another question. There's a question in the room. I mean, both of you can ask answer this, but what is what is the immunization plan for covid-19 in South Dakota? Excellent. Thank you for asking that. There is a bright spot on the horizon, folks. And that's when we have effective vaccines for covid. You've, I'm sure, all seen the news. But there are two front runners that we expect to have initial doses, certainly by the end of the year. Those will be a smaller amount that will be allocated to our state. We're expecting perhaps about twenty four thousand doses. That vaccine will go first to our frontline health care workers who are working with covid patients. And that includes folks working in hospital settings, long term care settings and other settings taking care of people with covid. One of the next priority populations will be our long term resident population, because, again, the data shows us that people that are older and people that have underlying health conditions are most vulnerable to poor health outcomes if they contract covid. From there, we will expand out to other health care workers, other first responders who, you know, would potentially come into contact with individuals with covid and into the general population. These vaccines just in the past couple of weeks have shown really, really high effectiveness. And so when you're seeing a vaccine that says I'm over 90 percent effective, that's really big news in the vaccine world. And that is very promising. That means we're going to see good results once we get that supply here. We're working with health care providers across the state to be able to deploy that vaccine. There's some challenges with logistics, but I know we're up to the task. And what's the timetable? Yeah, so timetable. So the next step that we're waiting for and one of the two vaccines that will be coming first just indicated today that they expect to file what's called an EUA, which is an emergency use authorization request to the federal government in the in the coming days. Once that EUA is requested, the federal government will be deploying pre-deploying vaccine to states so that as soon as that EUA is approved for use, we will have the vaccine in our states and able to start vaccinating individuals. So the federal government, I you know, we've met with the folks with Operation Warp Speed. They have been excellent. They have listened to what we as a rural state need in terms to make this work. And I feel like they've been extremely accommodating so that we're going to be able to get the vaccine out to where we really need to see it in South Dakota. Oh, yes, for sure. By this, by the end of this year, I'm really hoping that we're seeing vaccinations happening in December. Other question on the phone? Yes. Okay, we've got two people trying to ask a question. I didn't hear any names, though. So I'll defer to the Black Hills Pioneer. Okay. Deb with the Black Hills Pioneer. Sure, go ahead. Yeah. So in March, you encouraged schools to go to distance learning. What's your advice at this point with the surge in cases? Well, I'm encouraging schools to facilitate children in the classrooms as much as they possibly can. We know that when kids weren't in the classroom last spring, that we had up to a only 70 percent of accomplishments were made in reading levels. We only had a 50 percent accomplishment level in math and that that was not helping our kids being successful in their education course going forward. So we would like to see them facilitate getting kids in the classroom. There's a lot of information out there and mitigation measures that many of our districts are taking to make sure that that happens and also giving them the flexibility they need to do it safely. Okay. Thank you. And then, Stephen, did you have another question on the phone? I did. I just wanted to follow up from the metrics that you referenced earlier as far as rate of spread in other case in other states. And I was wondering what metric you're using for that. The John Hopkins dashboard that you had referenced earlier says that over the last two weeks, South Dakota has seen the nation's second most new cases per capita. And then also over the last few weeks, we've seen the nation's worst number of deaths per capita. So I'm just wondering what metric you're looking at. Yeah, I think we'll get that to you afterwards. The Johns Hopkins information is what we're referencing with rate of spread. And so we'll follow up with the other sources that we're utilizing. But again, we're seeing rates of increase in many of the states across the country. And we've seen these rates of spread increase regionally. At different points of the country, at different times, the Midwest has been increasing at the same time. And we're managing our way through that. Again, I'll just remind you, Stephen, since back in February and March, I told you that our focus was not going to be on how many positive cases that we have, that we are going to continue to focus on hospital capacity and our ability to take care of folks that should need health care if they were to get sick. And that it's incredibly important that we protect that vulnerable population. So we are staying consistent with where we've been for months and are making sure we're working with our health care providers to meet the needs of the people of the state of South Dakota. So according to the Department of Health data from today... Stephen, I'm going to go in the room to Abby. Abby's been trying to ask a question. Well, again, I would say that we have facilitated helping people that have essential needs, that we could help them with those. We've been working with different groups to make sure that we can go out and do grocery shopping, run errands for individuals that are in that vulnerable population should they need the help. And if they are struggling with somebody doing that for them, that we would certainly make sure that we'll get them some assistance in their local communities. And also just remember that the masks that have been shown to be effective are the N95s, as long as people wear them properly and as long as they're not touching them and as long as they're utilizing them in the way that the studies have shown that they can be effective in certain situations. But what we've seen so many times is people not respecting each other, not understanding personal choices that individuals are making. And I'm just asking folks to work together and treat each other as neighbors rather than creating a division in our communities. Angela Kennecke, you've said you've left it up to people for personal responsibility. You trust the people of this state, yet every COVID-19 tracker out there shows that South Dakota really outpaces the number of cases that are per capita compared with states that do have mask mandates or some sort of... So what, which ones are you referencing? And then during what timeframe are you referencing? So the Johns Hopkins ones, I just looked at that, you know... And what timeframe are they referencing? Well, within the last week, it showed positivity rates at 56%. So what I'm wondering about, my main question is, are South Dakotans truly taking personal responsibility? I believe they are. You don't think that the people of South Dakota are taking the pandemic seriously? Do you think we have these kinds of numbers? I think that we are in a period of time here where we're seeing more positive cases in the state of South Dakota. There's different components to why we're seeing that. We are testing much more than we did back in June, July, and August. That's a small component of it. We also see some higher rates of spread regionally. The states around us are increasing as well. And I can't tie consistently a policy that a government put forward that really made a big difference, especially when it comes to masks and slowing down the rate of spread. And that is the consistent that I have always said that I would look at. I would look at the science, that I would look at the data and the facts, and really put forward some ideas and provisions for the state of South Dakota based on that. And there isn't consistency on mask mandates that leads to less spread in many communities that we're seeing in other states. Now, the folks of South Dakota can make different decisions. We've seen communities make different decisions. Essentially, though, when they have put forward a mask mandate, if there's no enforcement, then it's really just a suggestion. And is that any different than what we are telling everybody and have been telling everybody for months is that there are different mitigation measures that you can choose to pursue. And we would encourage you to make wise decisions to protect your family's health and to take care of your community and do it cooperatively in a way that engages people in a way that's helpful rather than to divide. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. If you have questions, follow up with Maggie or Ian and we'll get back to you.