FACT CHECK: Gov. Noem’s COVID-19 comments

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — On Wednesday, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem gave multiple examples of how South Dakotans are doing with the fight against COVID-19 during a press conference held at the state’s capitol. She said other states have far higher new confirmed cases than South Dakota.

Looking at the data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, South Dakota is listed as having a 55.9 percent positivity rate. Out of the 50 states, Wyoming (60.99%) is the only state with a higher positivity rate than South Dakota.

Noem referenced the new confirmed cases per 100,000 or 1,000 people.

“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 100,000/1,000 people compared to South Dakota,” Noem said.

Here’s a link provided to KELOLAND News by Governor Noem’s office referencing cases per 1,000 people.

According to Johns Hopkins, South Dakota is second when sorting by new confirmed cases, meaning more people test positive out of 100,000 people in South Dakota than 48 other states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provides data for cases per 100,000 people. South Dakota is listed second, with North Dakota first and Wyoming third. This data aligns with Johns Hopkins’ research as well.

Johns Hopkins website also shows when sorting by tests, South Dakota is listed as 38th, meaning 37 other states have tested more people per 100,000 residents and 12 other states have tested fewer people per 100,000 residents.

“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,” Noem said.

South Dakota is listed 20th for deaths per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins.

The New York Times reports deaths per capita for the most recent day, and lists South Dakota as the second highest. Their website also states that South Dakota has a seven day average of 15 deaths.

“And I also want you to look at our case fatality rate. South Dakota has the seventh 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,” Noem said.