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P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E! Listen to Kristi, That’s What You’ll Be!

Governor Kristi Noem discourages us from wearing masks to prevent more people from testing positive for coronavirus, but she will use her public position to put on our “positive pants“:

Kristi Noem's response to pandemic
Kristi Noem’s response to pandemic

There is a risk associated with everything that we do in life; more South Dakotans have died from accidental injuries than from COVID-19 in the past 5 months. We mitigate risks by taking proper precautions when we get in our cars, when we operate farm equipment, and when we make choices about what we eat and how much we exercise. The same should be true about life as we get back to normal.

So let’s remember to “put our positive pants on.” We need to emphasize facts, not fear. Let’s tell the story of what works in the fight against this virus, and let’s continue to get through this together [Gov. Kristi Noem, press release, 2020.08.07].

Elect a beauty queen, expect beauty queen responses….

Oh, and Governor Noem continues to stroke Donald Trump’s fur by talking up hydroxychloroquine:

Data shows that the antiviral drug Remdesivir substantially reduces the mortality rate and cuts recovery time significantly. Similarly, a study out of Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System indicates that hydroxychloroquine may cut mortality rate for COVID-19 in half [Noem, 2020.08.07].

No, not similarly. The science on remdesivir looks reliable; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says the Henry Ford study on hydroxychloroquine is flawed:

“The Henry Ford Hospital study that was published was a non-controlled retrospective cohort study that was confounded by a number of issues, including the fact that many people who were receiving hydroxychloroquine were also using corticosteroids, which we know from another study gives a clear benefit in reducing deaths with advanced disease,” said Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert advising the White House on the coronavirus response.

“So that study is a flawed study,” Fauci said after Missouri Republican U.S. Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer asked him about the trial [Beth LeBlanc, “Fauci: Henry Ford Health’s Hydroxychloroquine Study ‘Flawed’,” Detroit News, 2020.07.31].

and

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that all the “valid” scientific data shows malaria drug hydroxychloroquine isn’t effective in treating the coronavirus, contradicting President Donald Trump’s opinion of the drug.

“You look at the scientific data and the evidence. And the scientific data … on trials that are valid, that were randomized and controlled in the proper way, all of those trials show consistently that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease or Covid-19,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said during an interview on MSNBC.

…Fauci said Wednesday that the public has “got to follow the science,” adding, “if a study that’s good comes out and shows efficacy and safety for hydroxychloroquine or any other drug that we do … you accept the scientific data.”

“Right now, today, the cumulative scientific data that has been put together and done over a number of different studies have shown no efficacy,” he said [Berkeley Lovelace, Jr., “Dr. Fauci Says All the ‘Valid” Scientific Data Shows Hydroxychloroquine Isn’t Effective in Treating Coronavirus,” CNBC, updated 2020.07.31].

Hydroxychloroquine is good for malaria, lupus, and arthritis (see, Kristi? I can be positive!), but, as Dr. Fauci says, if you’re reading all the science, you’ll see that, against covid-19, hydroxychloroquine is “not only ineffective, but also potentially risky.”

Red Cross Masks
A more positive sign that you’re serious about fighting a pandemic.

So put your own positive pants on, Kristi… and a mask: doctors and scientists and health officials are positive that masks help prevent the spread and the intensity of coronavirus.

Related Reading: In her whole cheer story of “what works in the fight against this virus,” Governor Noem does not mention the word mask.

35 Comments

  1. james

    Why is South Dakota’s testing roughly half of that of North Dakota when we have a greater population here? Perhaps someone has addressed this but I have not seen it anywhere.

  2. Eve Fisher

    Kristi is determined that she will be a nationally acclaimed figure for her fearless stance against any hint that the coronavirus could be a problem.

  3. Donald Pay

    We make choices. One choice we make is do we listen to idiots like Covid Kristi and our own selfish inner voice or do we heed the best medical advice and our sense of common decency. It’s an easy choice for me.

    People who murder someone have made a bad choice, but we don’t leave it at that. We don’t let people who refuse to wear seatbelts get away with it. People no longer have the choice to blow secondhand smoke over everyone else in public spaces. We have gained a lot in health and liberty by restricting stupid choices.

  4. mike from iowa

    Do they make Depends for female guv’s mouths?

  5. Ray Tysdal

    When I look into her eyes, the lights are on…but there is nobody home.

  6. Kristi will be taking her message to Iowa on 6 September. Maybe we can ask those republicans to keep her ……..?

  7. o

    This rhetoric reminds me of the gambler on a hot streak — you may beat the odds over a short amount of time, but the casino always wins over time. I fear that SD thinks that beating to odds is something special about us, when instead it is just the anomaly of a short-term experience.

    And again I ask, why sue opposition to masks? Especially in school settings where a precedent for dress codes has been established.

  8. O, the opposition to masks is remarkable. The whole theme of her little cheer post is to tell us to be optimistic, to convince us that beating coronavirus is easy. Instead of touting unproven drugs and vaccines that aren’t available yet, why not tout a surefire, inexpensive, easily accessible preventative measure that every citizen can use right now?

    Why would anyone encouraging us to believe we can beat coronavirus not mention one of the simplest things we can do to beat coronavirus?

  9. From the CDC’s report, issued yesterday, on the coronavirus outbreak at Smithfield Foods’ Sioux Falls slaughterhouse: “Consistent and correct use of masks can also prevent presymptomatic or asymptomatic employees with SARS-CoV-2 infection from transmitting the virus to others.”

  10. Iowa republican Lincoln-Reagan dinner … correction 4 Sept, masks optional.

  11. jerry

    Over 1,000 active cases today in South Dakota, winning! Pretty P O S I T I V E indicator that Tinker Belle GNOem has failed the job and no amount of pixie dust is gonna fix this.

    “The South Dakota Department of Health reported two new deaths and 106 new cases of COVID-19 infection Saturday.

    For the first time since June 10, the number of active cases in the state has risen above 1,000. There have been 9,477 total positive tests in the state and 1,024 of those cases are listed as an active infection – up 41 from Friday’s report. The state received reported on 1,260 tests for Saturday’s report.” Rapid City Journal 8.8.2020

  12. Eve Fisher

    South Dakota is like the frog in the cookpot – started the simmer in cold water, and doesn’t even realize that we’re about to be fully cooked.

  13. DaveFN

    Is Noem stepping aside in favor of Norman Vincent Peale, as Adlai Stevenson might say? Or as both Mary Trump and Jonathan Swan have recently indicated with reference to Donald Trump?

    “The world is not a pleasant place just now, and it is a disservice to our people to
    pretend that it is. America was not built by wishful thinking. It was built by realists, and
    it will not be saved by guesswork and by self-deception. It will only be saved by hard
    work and by facing the facts.” —Adlai Stevenson, 27 Sep 1960 JFK Campaign Speech

    https://web.archive.org/web/20101127095208/http://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/projects/transcripts/pdf/adlai_jfk.pdf

  14. Debbo

    She doesn’t have the brains or decency to feel embarrassed and ashamed. 🙄

  15. When you’re angling for something as bold as replacing a sitting VP, there’s no room for shame. She’s all in.

  16. grudznick

    Ms. Geelsdottir, start preaching the Rapture, with your foul name-calling spiced about the Sunday lecture sermons. Tomorrow at the breakfasting, grudznick will mention your ilk in his Opening Rant, and for those interested we have a sponsor for the breakfasts.

  17. Jenny

    My daughters high school here in Minnesota Has voted against Students coming back to school (even with masks provided). This was a hard decision for the school and decided at the last minute to go back to distance learning for the first six weeks. At the end of six weeks the decision will be reevaluated again to determine if it is safe enough to have student back at the school.
    I had thought for sure, as many parents , that students would be returning to school with mask wearing as a rule but the school board decided against it. Schools here in Minnesota Are taking the pandemic very seriously.I do think that Reevaluating every six weeks is a good idea for now.
    Most students, teachers and parents Really want kids back at the school where learning is really best done. Distance Learning is hard, it’s just not the same as in class learning and I feel bad for kids that Are struggling through this and not getting to socialize with students.

  18. o

    Eve, I would sat the more appropriate analogy is that SD are lemmings following their leader off a cliff.

  19. Debbo

    78%!
    SD better get Medicaid. You’re really going to need it!

    “Seventy-eight percent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 showed evidence of heart damage caused by the disease weeks after they have recovered, according to a study published Monday by JAMA Cardiology.”
    https://upi.com/7024412

  20. Steven Johnson

    I’m guessing every poster here is a Democrat. We are lucky to live in the free beautiful state of South Dakota. and there is proof hydrocloraquin is viable option in treating Covaid. But big pharma and Fauci who blows with the wind are after big $.

  21. Jake

    S Johnson-mebbe not all Democrats, but dang sure not drinin’ the Trump kool-aid! Be a lemming, if you desire, but he leads you nowhere worthy!

  22. Eve Fisher

    Mr. Johnson, from that insanely liberal organization Johns Hopkins:

    “These compounds have been used for decades to prevent malaria and to treat some autoimmune disorders such as lupus. On June 15, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked its authorization to use hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, based on a large, scientific study that showed no benefit to patients who were treated with this drug. The FDA reports that use of hydroxychloroquine is associated with serious heart rhythm problems and other safety issues. Other studies worldwide have halted their clinical trials with these drugs for COVID-19.”

    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-treatment-whats-in-development

  23. Loren

    Well, Steven, have you got sources for your comments other than Dr Hannity or Dr Trump?

  24. bearcreekbat

    Loren, Using the search phrase “hydroxychloroquine is viable option in treating Covid” in Google I looked for sources to support Steven’s claim. After reviewing several pages of results the most supportive article I found was from April and described a Chinese trial and some French trials as follows:

    . . . the drug hasn’t been proven to successfully treat Covid-19 in any large clinical trials. Last week, researchers from China made public a small trial that found hydroxychloroquine helped improve Covid-19 recovery rates in moderately ill patients. However, the study was not peer-reviewed and came with notable limitations. For instance, Luciana Borio, who oversaw public health preparedness for the National Security Council in the Trump Administration and was the acting chief scientist at FDA under former President Barack Obama, explained that the trial included only young and middle-aged patients with mild Covid-19 cases.

    Other studies purporting hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness against Covid-19 have come out of France and China. However, experts have criticized those findings because the trials lacked control groups, which means the researchers could not definitively determine whether the drugs were responsible for any improvement in patients’ conditions.

    https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/04/07/hydroxychloroquine

    Apparently, that seems to leave Dr. Hannity and Dr. Trump as the sources for Steven’s beliefs.

  25. mike from iowa

    The lemming myth is phony, like compassionate conservatism. Who knew?

  26. grudznick

    Mr. mike, you could be righter than right about the lack of compassionate conservatism. The Conservatives with Common Sense, as a lump mob, discuss often our group lack of compassion. Some individuals have compassion, but we do try to squeeze that around the neck a bit. Compassion is not a productive path to take. Common sense shows that, even in Iowa.

  27. leslie

    Thank god for expelling that useful metaphor of a myth. Recent arguments and evidence suggest animals do have political consciousness, especially chimps, dolphins and others. Janna Levin, Bernhard astrophysicist.

    This kind of Republican mal-conscience following is gaining ground now, generally. In the 1870s, then-Democrats gradually regained power in the Southern legislatures,[15] after having used insurgent paramilitary groups, such as the White League and the Red Shirts, to disrupt Republican organizing, run Republican officeholders out of town, and intimidate Black people to suppress their voting.[16] Wiki

    The anti-mask phenomena however pretty much demonstrates today’s Republican Lemming mythological mass-suicide behavior, much resembling ostrich behavior to boot! (Including withdrawals from Iran nuclear agreement, Paris climate agreement and N. Korean denuclearization debacle.)

    STOP TESTING!-the president of united states and my 4 month grandchild. C-you obviously are on the side of the Democratic party that seeks truth and freedom of CDC, OSHA and WHO scientists!

  28. o

    Steven, isn’t “big Pharma” selling/pushing the hydrocloraquin? Not to be too pessimistic, but whatever the cure and treatment for COVID turns out to be, I am willing to bet big Pharma will be accepting the money for it.

  29. o

    I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for besmirching the image of lemmings — not for saying they follow each other off cliffs, but for comparing them to Trumpist Conservatives of the new GOP. : )

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