Dr. Specker also summarizes South Dakota’s flu situation—you know, flu, that disease some Republicans have burbled about as the equivalent of coronavirus in order to dissuade us from taking action to curb the spread of coronavirus. According to the Department of Health, as of November 21, South Dakota has seen two flu hospitalizations and one death from flu in the fall flu season.
Naturally, those numbers are low, since the flu usually peaks around February 3. Dr. Specker summarizes the total hospitalizations and deaths from flu over the past five years.
Over five full flu seasons, we’ve averaged 612 hospitalizations and 39 deaths from flu each year. In this incomplete year, coronavirus has put 4,572 South Dakotans in the hospital and killed 948 of us. By that hospitalization count, coronavirus is 7.47 times as dangerous as the flu. By the annual death rate, coronavirus is 24 times more deadly than the flu (and we still have December 2020 to survive).
The South Dakota Department of Health spends a fair amount of money on scary/funny advertising and a snappy website separate from doh.sd.gov to exhort us all to get flu shots:
Despite the greater danger posed by coronavirus, the Department of Health has not yet rented a separate web domain to advertise coronavirus prevention. The current DOH homepage features two rotating banners, one for coronavirus information, one for suicide prevention. Suicide, which accounted for 185 South Dakotans’ deaths in 2019, gets a banner touting prevention with a call to action—literally, “TAKE ACTION” in big font—a 24/7 phone help line, and a “Learn More” link to yet another standalone website. Coronavirus, which appears to be more than five times more deadly than suicide, gets no verbs in the banner, no mention of prevention or help, just “Updates & Information” and a “Learn More” link to the covid subpage.
The South Dakota Department of Health takes public health problems like flu and suicide seriously. Its online exertions don’t suggest a similarly serious take on preventing the far more dangerous and deadly coronavirus.
The White House’s coronavirus task force ignored Trump and Pence the nay-sayers and issued a immediate and dire warning to the health department of all states including South Dakota:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/white-house-coronavirus-task-force-warns-states-we-are-in-a-very-dangerous-place/ar-BB1byvLd?ocid=U508DHP&li=BBnb7Kz
They are attempting to save lives by circumventing the denier governors like Krisit Noem. Of course her new South Dakota Department of Health’s communications director Daniel Bucheli will immediately trash-can this warning and will attempt to trample it down. He will not respond to reporter’s questions and will not ever mention it at any pressers.
Now everyone can be listed as a flu death. No need to test for covid and your rates will come down. It’s a win win.
Everyone should view the “cartoon” tweet in this Balloon Juice post. It’s an eye-opener.
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2020/12/02/some-more-longer-pandemic-reads/
Oh oh, you got covid up over North Dakota today, Nebraska’s just over the horizon, great job kristi, you can do it, you can do it, I’m sure you can. Just five to one thousand deaths. South Dakota where maskless freedom rings.
I hope the flu doesn’t hit Arizona because we have a governor that’s as bad as South Dakota’s if not worse. He does nothing but invite snowbirds, soccer teams, and now pro football teams. Just keeps his head buried at in the sand. Ads nothing to his press conferences other than how stupid he looks to the medical community, that’s screaming out for help and relief.
The Covid queen never misses an opportunity to demonstrate her complete cluelessness and disregard for the people who put her sorry arse in office, and the rest of us who did not vote for her and have to endure the embarrassment of her trumpeon behavior. kmayfb
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/south-dakota-governor-mocks-joe-biden-s-message-as-covid-deaths-rise-by-47-in-2-weeks/ar-BB1bzMCo?ocid=msedgdhp
I am sure you have heard it too. “It’s just like the flu.” It’s certainly been said to me on multiple occasions.
Your chart indicates that the flu kills about 40 people in a typical year. Thanks to Kristi Noem, Covid can claim that many lives in a single day.
Here is one reason people will keep on dying.Seems like they could pull his license.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oregon-doctor-and-staff-refuse-to-wear-masks-during-pandemic-calling-covid-common-cold/ar-BB1bzDjt?li=BBnb7Kz
Here’s yet another executive agency ripe for legislative oversight – if South Dakota had any legislative oversight. The executive ought live in fear and respect of the legislature as it does of the judiciary. Instead the SD legislature is merely a lapdog for the executive.
Corey, thanks for unmasking the DOH’s malpractice, and earlier the BOA’s corruption.
SD Republican leadership stinks like dead fish!