Poorly.
Bloomberg called it “a failed experiment in herd immunity.” Over 40% of the state’s residents got infected. (Read article here.)
South Dakota has the 8th highest mortality rate among the 50 states. (Hawai and Vermont have the lowest; Washington is 7th lowest. See article here.)
Last August, South Dakota’s rightwing governor threw down the welcome mat and flung the doors open for the Sturgis motorcycle rally. No masks required. Predictably, it became a “superspreader” event, infecting hundreds of thousands of people, and running up an estimated $12 billion of health care bills (read article here).
She’s trying to pass the buck and point fingers elsewhere. But even Trump’s coronavirus coordinator, Deborah Birx, said what she did was “not okay,” and Virginia’s GOP governor said he doesn’t want his state “to be South Dakota.” (Read article here.)
Like many Republicans, Gov. Kristi Noem (photo, left) is a science denier and anti-masker. She gambled with the health and lives of her constitutents, and lost. That doesn’t mean she’s stupid. She’s a smart woman. If she’s re-elected in 2022, it means the voters are stupid.