America's answer to Sweden – a postcard from the US state that refused to lock down

It is the best of states, it is the worst of states. While others shut down in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and mandated the closure of non-essential businesses, South Dakota has continued life much as it had before.

Some call it rural wisdom, while others condemn it as foolishness. Governor Kristi Noem, a first-term Republican and favourite of President Donald Trump, refused to order a statewide shutdown and has cast doubts about the need to wear masks. Instead, she has embarked on a campaign to attract new businesses and people to South Dakota.

Noem – who hosted Trump at Mount Rushmore on July 3, where few masks were worn for the fireworks show and rally – has been the target of fierce criticism from many medical professionals as well as people concerned about Covid-19 rates in the state.

As September wound down, the number of cases rose dramatically. There were 3,790 active cases as of Sunday, September 27, the highest total yet since the pandemic struck. A total of 21,541 people had been infected; 218 had died. But Noem and those who agree with her views on the coronavirus point to the 17,533 people who have recovered.

South Dakota is a big state – 77,184 square miles, compared to England’s 50,346 square miles – without a lot of people. Scattered across all that prairie and rolling hills – the Black Hills are the highest mountains east of the Rockies – are just 885,000 people, compared to more than 50 million in England.

We are split by the Missouri River. The region of West River is a cowboy country of big hats, boots and horses. East River has most of the population in small cities, rural towns and a dwindling number of farms.

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The state is conservative and reliably Republican, last voting for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1964. Liberal icons and Democratic hopefuls Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern were born here but could not carry their home states in 1968 and 1972.

On Sunday, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, we were among the few parishioners wearing masks. The ornate Catholic church had hand sanitizer readily available and no collection plates were passed, but otherwise it was a regular Sunday service. Attendance is up recently.

After a drive to see the fall colours begin to slide down trees across Sioux Falls, we stopped for a drink at TommyJack’s Pub by our apartment. Fans crowded around the bar groaned as the Minnesota Vikings NFL football team dropped their third straight game. “How you gonna drink that with a mask on?” a man asked me. I lowered the face covering to sip my vodka and lemon shot, and he smiled. Some come with straws now, he said.

Most South Dakotans are ready to move on from Covid-19, even as records are being set for the number of infections. For some, there has never been a reason to panic. The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a huge party with bands, cheap T-shirts and bikers roaring across the Black Hills, celebrated its 80th year with 460,000 people in attendance from August 7-16. Some called it a “super-spreader event”.

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A working paper produced by Dhaval Dave, an economics professor at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and three colleagues, that was published by the German-based IZA Institute of Labor Economics, claimed the Sturgis rally caused 266,796 new cases in the USA over a four-week period. The study said that would carry a cost of $12.2 billion.

Noem condemned it. “This report isn’t science; it’s fiction,” she said. “Under the guise of academic research, this report is nothing short of an attack on those who exercised their personal freedom to attend Sturgis.”

Paul Mitchell, a staff member and historian at The Buffalo Chip, the largest biker campground in Sturgis, said cancelling the rally was “never a consideration”, despite the pandemic. “The Rally was probably the best we ever had. Guests had planned for many years to attend and had already invested money to make arrangements,” Mitchell said. “It was the Chip’s responsibility to be there for them to enjoy a safe experience and help celebrate our freedoms. Our guests were happy and appreciative to have some place to go that seemed normal.”

While Mitchell claimed there were no cases linked to Sturgis, state officials said there were 124, and 12 other states reported 290 cases tied to the Rally. The South Dakota State Fair was held in Huron from September 3-7, marking its 135th year. Attendance was higher than expected, with no reports of coronavirus spikes in the area. Noem carried an American flag at a rodeo event.

The Sioux Falls Canaries, an independent minor league baseball team, was one of six teams in the American Association to play this season, and among the few teams that allowed fans. The Canaries flew higher than usual, with their first winning season in a decade and an appearance in the league championship series.

College resumed in the fall, and there was a spike in cases in my hometown of Brookings, where the state’s largest university, South Dakota State, is located, as students packed parties and bars. They were having the best of times.

SDSU President Dr. Barry Dunn threatened to close the campus and send students home to their “parents’ basements,” and the Brookings City Council mandated mask use in public, the only city in the state to do so.

Noem, in a September 22 tweet, said the state was in fine shape. “It looks like South Dakota’s ‪#COVID19‬ spread peaked the latest of just about any state. Even so, we continue to be in good shape with only 5 per cent of our ICU beds occupied by Covid patients,” Noem said. “It just goes to show that you don’t need lockdowns to be responsible and flatten the curve.”

“Stop spreading fear,” she also wrote on Twitter. “Only 8 per cent of South Dakota’s hospital beds are occupied by Covid patients. We have and will continue to manage our resources to care for the people who need help. The people of South Dakota have accomplished this WITHOUT Draconian lockdowns.”

Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender said the state wasn’t unique. “South Dakota didn’t know anything that other states didn’t know. The truth is, in the early stages of the pandemic the entire country was in a fog,” said Allender, a former police chief in his third term as mayor.

“Decisions were being made based on international data and quasi-scientific guesswork. I believe the country has been playing catch-up for the entirety of the last seven months. Government, of course, is trying to catch up to the medical professionals who are trying to catch up.”

He said no state stands out as a victor. It’s all been a confusing mess, with people staking out positions based on their political views. I have known Allender since he was a police captain in 2005. He is thoughtful and honest, and displayed that when asked about the stark differences in viewpoints. “Unfortunately, it is just one more reason to hate each other in 2020. The two sides are sharply divided,” he said.

“The pandemic has been fully politicised and therefore weaponised. The far right believes the virus is no worse than the flu or is made up entirely, while the far left believes we are all going to die and only the government can save us. Everyone else in the middle is hoping for the best and either taking precautions or not. We needed calm from the top but instead received political jackassery from both sides.”

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken was at the center of the storm this spring as the Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant became a Covid-19 hotspot. Workers, many of whom are recent immigrants, are clustered together in tight quarters and few precautions were taken. As a result, there were 929 Covid-19 cases and two employees died. Two other deaths were linked to the plant, which is owned by the WH Group of China.

On his Facebook page, TenHaken has urged caution. “While we continue to remain in a very manageable position in Sioux Falls related to our Covid metrics, it is important to remember that we will be co-existing with this virus for some time,” he posted on Wednesday, September 23.

“Your personal responsibility in caring for your families and your neighbours has been and will continue to be vital to balancing our economy, protecting public health, and keeping our kids in schools. Now is not a time to grow weary but rather, to stay focused on what has helped us live amidst this pandemic thus far.”

Bill Walsh, a former Catholic priest who became a Democratic Party activist and Deadwood casino owner – yes, seriously – said he was concerned about the rate of infection. “By not encouraging tourists to the Black Hills to wear masks and social distance, we have become a hot area for the virus,” Walsh told me. “I talked to one community leader last week who told me 85 per cent to 100 per cent of the people in his community were testing positive. It scared the hell out of me.”

John Wrede of Rapid City, a retired game warden, said he is “very grateful for all those essential workers in grocery stores, pharmacies, clinics and hospitals for their selfless commitment to their fellow citizens by wearing masks, social distancing, personal hygiene, but I’m not impressed with some businesses that dragged their feet in that regard.”

Wrede said the tourism industry – second only to agriculture in South Dakota – thought more about money than safety. “The business reaction to the pandemic has been too little and too late,” he said. “At this juncture, we’re only beginning to see an increase in compliance with CDC guidelines in retail businesses. That increased compliance is mostly likely in response to the steady increase in deaths.”

Jeff Dougherty, part-owner and manager of Overtime, a Sioux Falls sports bar and restaurant, said many such businesses may not survive the pandemic. Mayor Allender said that’s true in Rapid City, too. The bar closed for two weeks and then reopened on a limited basis before resuming near-normal business. Sales have dropped by up to 20 per cent, but he said hiring and retaining employees has been the most difficult part.

Workers across America received an additional $600 (£465) per week in unemployment benefits and had little incentive to return to work, Dougherty said. “Hiring in Sioux Falls had already been a nightmare prior to the pandemic,” he said. “We have far more jobs than people willing to fill them in this city. The people in the workforce, (particularly the hospitality industry) understand this and know they have the upper hand.”

South Dakota musician Hank Harris, a veteran performer who has sung and played on local stages since the early 1970s, said it’s been “an interesting time” as he adjusts to the reality of the pandemic. “I have worked five engagements since December,” Harris said. “Some cancelled by the venue and some by me. Lots of time for writing, recording, hiking, taking pictures, reassessing priorities, reading and more.”

He also is a close observer of the national scene, and said “watching our house of cards nation tumbling, crumbling before us is awful.” That’s not how Noem and other South Dakotans see it. It’s a tale of two states.

Tom Lawrence of Sioux Falls is a fourth-generation South Dakotan who started writing about the state, its people and politics in 1978.