South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem blasted CNN for publishing a February story on the state’s response to COVID-19, calling it “completely not factual.”
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“What was interesting about this story was it was completely not factual,” Noem told Fox News Digital.
The story, “Omicron may be on the decline, but this South Dakota hospital is still feeling its peak,” ran Feb. 9 and quoted a doctor at the Monument Health hospital in Rapid City, calling the number of cases the facility saw then as “worrying.”
“We are seeing a rise in the range of 60% in cases here in hospitalizations at Monument Health,” said Dr. Shankar Kurra, the hospital’s vice president of medical affairs. “And that is worrying. This is a trend that is a warning to us; a dire warning that we could be at capacities we never imagined.”
The story went on to point out that Noem refused to implement mask mandates and other restrictions imposed by other states like restricting gathering sizes, and instead allowing residents to make their own decisions about the risk of the disease.
“Governor Noem has provided her people with up-to-date science, facts, and data and then trusted them to exercise personal responsibility to make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones,” her communications director told CNN for the story.
Noem went on Twitter the day after the story to criticize the network.
“Last night, @CNN falsely claimed that hospitalizations are ‘surging’ in Pennington County. Hospitalizations are in fact down 32% since the omicron peak 3 weeks ago,” Noem’s Feb. 9 tweet said. “This political hit job ignored the mountains of factual data that we sent to them. We are demanding a correction.” Continue reading at Newsmax.