South Dakota's embarrassment of a governor, Kristi Noem

This past week, the biggest increases in confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred in states where conservative leaders have resisted calling for stay-at-home orders. CNN reports that Arkansas saw a 60% increase in cases this past week, while Nebraska saw that number go up 74%. Not to be outdone, Iowa jumped 82% in confirmed cases. But the top spot this past week goes to South Dakota, where Gov. Kristi Noem has refused calls to order stay-at-home precautions. The Mount Rushmore State saw an increase of over 1,000 cases this past week, making that a 205% spike.

Those South Dakota statistics include the extraordinary numbers coming from Minnehaha county, and specifically the hundreds of confirmed cases at the Smithfield Pork plant. It’s the single largest cluster of cases in the country, where well over 600 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.