Third Wave

Posted on by Thor

The number of COVID-19 cases is surging across the country.The Midwest is being hit particularly hard, notably South Dakota which was the site of the Sturgis motorcycle rally which may have seeded outbreaks all across the Midwest. In South Dakota there is no mandatory mask mandate, governor Kristi Noem saying that people have the right to decide for themselves. One candidate for the North Dakota the house of representatives, David Andahl a “Trump Republican”, passed away from COVID-19 but is still on the ballot.

In all 45 states are seeing increases of cases of COVID-19. The U.S. has confirmed an average of 54,000 new cases per day, a 25 percent increase compared to two weeks ago. Florida is also seeing increases. Wisconsin is building a field hospital on the state park fairground.

The first surge hit New York and the northeast in the spring, and the second hit the south including Florida, over the summer, peaking at about 73,000 cases per day in July — the highest levels so far recorded in the pandemic in the U.S. Experts have warned for months of a surge in cases in the colder months that would likely rival the battering by COVID-19 the U.S. already endured.

Twenty-seven states, mostly in the South, Midwest and Mountain states, have “uncontrolled spread” of COVID-19, according to the COVID Exit Strategy, a nonprofit public health group that tracks metrics of the pandemic, including case numbers and test positivity rates. Another 18 states are “trending poorly,” including states on the East and West coasts, and Texas and Louisiana. Only two states — Maine and Vermont — are “trending better,” with declining cases and a smaller proportion of tests coming back positive.

The U.S. is nearing 8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 220,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ensemble forecast projects an additional 9,000 to 20,000 deaths by Nov. 7, 2020. All the while Trump is downplaying the virus spreading lies and misinformation. Listen to experts not politicians, your life depends on it.

80th Sturgis Bike Rally

Posted on by Thor

On August 5,2020 South Dakota reported 89 new cases of COVID-19 and one death over the last two weeks. Kristi Noem the state governor never issued any state mandates to help curb the spread of the virus instead trusting in the citizens of her state to do the right thing to stay safe in the midst of a pandemic. Noem on July 28, 2020 said she will push for schools to stay open this fall, and disparaged any requirements for children to wear masks in classrooms.

The 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will be expecting 250,000 bikers to descend on the South Dakota city. The bikers will assemble from August 7 to 16, 2020. This could become the biggest mass gathering anywhere since pandemic began. Sturgis, a city of about 7,000 residents, was hesitant to again host the week long event during a pandemic. Many worry that the rally might cause an unmanageable outbreak of COVID-19. To date Meade County where Sturgis is located, has reported 82 COVID-19 infections and 1 death.

In a survey of residents conducted by the city, more than 60% said the rally should be postponed. But businesses pressured the City Council to proceed. An attorney wrote to the Sturgis City Council reminding them that a judge found the city does not solely own rights to the rally and threatened to sue if the city tried to postpone.

The city will provide ppe to businesses that will be working during the rally, and recommend sanitizing stations and 50% capacity at bars and restaurants. However these are just suggestions which are not legally enforceable.

Organizers were emboldened by the President’s July 3 fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore. Event organizers are counting on drunken attendees to politely social distance. Sturgis officials realized the rally would happen whether they wanted it or not. They decided to try to scale it back, canceling city-hosted events and slashing advertising for the rally. Others thing that this might be the biggest event in America since all others were canceled for public safety. This could be the bikers Woodstock of the pandemic.

After all the bikers leave the city of Sturgis will conduct a massive testing program hoping to catch and contain any virus that might be left behind. The bikers will ride back to their home states to share the experience and perhaps the virus with friends and family.

Where’s the Bacon?

Posted on by Thor

Smithfield Foods the world’s largest pork production facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is now the largest Covid-19 hot spot in the United States. Nine state governors have not issued stay at home orders, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The governors, all
Republican, have often defended their actions out of a belief in smaller
government, despite many calls from within their own states to do so.  

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, for instance, told reporters
earlier this week that “the people themselves are primarily responsible
for their safety” and that state and national constitutions “prevent us
from taking draconian measures much like the Chinese government has
done.” She also added, “South Dakota is not New York City.”

Eighty of South Dakota’s 180 new COVID-19 cases are employees of the
Smithfield Foods meat-processing company, bringing the total to 600 Smithfield Foods
employees who have tested positive. There are also now 135 total cases
of non-employees that became infected when they came into contact with a
Smithfield employee, according to the South Dakota Department of
Health. 

Augustín Rodriguez, 64, showed up for every one of his
shifts at Smithfield Foods, where he worked for nearly two decades.
Augustín kept going to work even after he began experiencing COVID-19
symptoms like fever and cough because he needed to work. He kept working until a sharp pain in his side kept him from going to work. Three days later he was hospitalized and tested positive for Covid-19. He was placed on a ventilator and died two weeks later. His death is presumed to be the first connected to a COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls. His wife, Angelita, believes he was worked to death.

Smithfield announced Sunday April 12, 2020 that it would be closing its Sioux Falls
plant indefinitely Wednesday. The plant has 3,700 employees.  The company is closing its meat processing plants in other states as well. The number of South Dakota residents who have tested positive for Covid-19 has surpassed 1,100, and more than half of those cases have
some connection to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls. 

Kristi Noem a staunch Trump supporter seems to think that her rural state is safe from the virus or she is choosing to ignore the reality. Despite the numbers, Noem said she would not issue a stay-at-home order
for Minnehaha and nearby Lincoln Counties, as Sioux Falls Mayor Paul
Ten Haken requested. Noem said a stay-at-home order wouldn’t have made a
difference in Sioux Falls because the plant would have remained open as
part of a critical infrastructure business.

Noem also said her state will begin trying Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug pushed by President Donald Trump in treating COVID-19. On the same say she made that announcement scientists in Brazil said they stopped part of their study, after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people
who were given a higher dose of the drug. Tom Hanks wife, Rita Wilson, developed “Extreme side effects” when she was given the drug in Australia. Noem received 1.2 million doses of the drug from the Federal government. Her constituents will be the guinea pigs. Senator Elizabeth Warren, said: “The governor just lets this problem get bigger and bigger and bigger.”

The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls used represents about 4% to 5% of
U.S. pork production, or about 18 million servings per day. The pork industry could see 5 billion dollars in losses due to the pandemic. Consumers are likely to be meat shortages due to the plant closings.