Tag: covid-19

South Dakota Gov. Noem Refuses To Enforce Biden Mask Mandate, Citing Lack Of Authority

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) has made clear that she won’t be enforcing any potential ‘mask mandate’ from a Biden administration, citing a lack of authority, according to a statement made to local outlet Argus Leader.

“It’s a good day for freedom. Joe Biden realizes that the president doesn’t have the authority to institute a mask mandate,” said Noem’s communications director, Ian Fury, adding “For that matter, neither does Governor Noem, which is why she has provided her citizens with the full scope of the science and trusted them to make the best decisions for themselves and their loved-ones.”

The announcement comes as likely President-Elect Biden ramps up lockdown messaging so he can promptly blame President Trump on January 21 for not doing so.

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Social distancing, masks still necessary after getting COVID-19 vaccine: Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that it will still be necessary to social distance, wear masks and take other COVID-19 precautions after a vaccine becomes available to Americans.

“I would recommend to people to not to abandon all public health measures just because you’ve been vaccinated,” Fauci told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

“Because even though for the general population it might be 90 to 95 percent effective, you don’t necessarily know for you how effective it is.”

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Biden COVID Advisory Board Member: Indoor Dining, Gyms, and Gatherings in Homes Should Be Targeted ‘for Closures’

During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “WSJ at Large,” Biden COVID-19 Advisory Board member Dr. Celine Gounder stated that “places that we know are big contributors to transmission are indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, and also private social gatherings of friends and family in the home” “are really the places we need to target for closures” while prioritizing keeping other services, like schools, open.

Gounder said that the advisory board’s “consensus” is that “the draconian lockdowns, shutdowns that we had in the spring,” are unneeded, and that increased knowledge means we can “be much more targeted about how we tighten up some of our measures. I think of it like a dimmer switch, whereas before we had an on and off light switch. So, we can dial up and dial down in a much more granular fashion. So, some of the places that we know are big contributors to transmission are indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, and also private social gatherings of friends and family in the home. So, those are really the places we need to target for closures while keeping other services, for example, schools that are — have not been major contributors to transmission, they’re not zero-risk, but they are much lower risk, and they’re an essential service. And so, we’re really prioritizing keeping schools, for example, open.”

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