WASHINGTON – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem says the thousands of people attending the Mount Rushmore Independence Day celebration of July 3 with President Donald Trump will not have to practice social distancing despite an increase in coronavirus cases across the country.
“We will have a big event on July 3. We told people who have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us will give them free face masks if they choose to wear one.” But we will not be estranged. social, “Noem, a Republican, said in an interview Monday night on Fox News'” The Ingraham Angle “.
State officials have told the people of South Dakota “to focus on personal responsibility,” Noem said, adding: “Everyone has an opportunity to make a decision that they are comfortable with.”
Trump is expected to attend the celebration and comment on the event, one day before the July 4 holiday. Mount Rushmore is located within a national park in Keystone, South Dakota. The event will come amid a surge in coronavirus infections in the U.S., prompting some states, including Texas, to back down on their plans to reopen further.
A website detailing information for the July 3 event says “attendance will be limited” through an online lottery that occurred in June “to about 7,500 participants.”
White, the website for the celebration, does not mention social distancing or the provision of face masks, the National Park Service says: “We ask the public to be our partner in adopting social distancing practices when visiting parks.”
Since the start of the pandemic, health and government officials have encouraged Americans to practice social distancing at a minimum of 6 feet. Authorities have also been urging people to wear face covers to prevent further transmission of COVID-19.
On the South Dakota Department of Health website, it says that to avoid illness, people should “avoid close contact with people … stay home as much as possible” and “put distance between yourself and others persons”. It also says, “Everyone should wear a cloth face covering when they have to go out in public.”
As of Tuesday, there are 807 active cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota, according to the state health department. There have been 6,716 positive cases and 91 deaths from the disease. According to a three-day moving average from Johns Hopkins University, there has recently been an average of 60 new cases per day recently, which has been stable.
Trump, meanwhile, has refused to wear a face mask during the entire pandemic. As of Sunday, there have been more than 2.5 million positive cases in the US and a death toll of 126,332, according to the NBC News count.
The president recently held his first campaign rally in months in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where there was no social distancing and no masks were required. Since then, at least eight members of Trump’s advanced team have tested positive.
