These GOP governors long resisted mask mandates and coronavirus rules Now their states are in crisis

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has said “government should not mandate” wearing masks.

Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican in office since 2019, has adopted much of the language of President Donald Trump during the pandemic.

She has resisted restrictions on gatherings and given credence to those who question whether masks are helpful in stopping an airborne virus.

South Dakota is grappling with the nation’s highest positivity rate. This Covid-19 widow wants a mask mandate

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“There are many others who question the effectiveness of masks, and South Dakotans should take the time to read this information so they can make informed decisions for themselves and their families,” she wrote in an op-ed last month. “As I’ve said before, if folks want to wear a mask, they should be free to do so. Similarly, those who don’t want to wear a mask shouldn’t be shamed into wearing one. And government should not mandate it.”

Noem has also encouraged crowded gatherings with no social distancing, in particular at a Trump rally at Mount Rushmore in July.

The results have been devastating health-wise. South Dakota has averaged more than 1,400 new coronavirus cases per day over the past week in a state with about 885,000 people. Adjusted for population, it’s the second-highest number of new average cases in the country. The state’s seven-day positivity rate is a stunning 58%, and more people are hospitalized per capita than in any other state, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Jodi Doering, a nurse at a South Dakota emergency room, said some people dying at the hospital are still in denial about the virus.

“They don’t want to believe that Covid is real,” she said. “Their last dying words are, ‘This can’t be happening. It’s not real.’ “

Nurse: Some patients who test positive refuse to believe they have Covid-19 04:29

Despite the rising health disaster, Noem said Friday that her strategy has worked.

“I knew that South Dakotans could be trusted to exercise their personal responsibility, and each and every one of these people have proven me right,” she said in a statement.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, left, with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum in North Dakota on Oct. 26.

Gov. Doug Burgum, a businessman who was elected as a Republican in 2016, had resisted a mask mandate since the pandemic began.

But that stance became untenable in recent weeks as Covid-19 has run through the state. Per capita, North Dakota has the most new coronavirus cases and deaths over the past seven days of any US state, and is second in new hospitalizations only to South Dakota.

Citing the state’s overwhelmed hospitals and health care workers, he issued new rules last week that allowed infected health care workers to continue working in hospital Covid units as long as they are asymptomatic.