PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem issued the following statement on the grossly misleading San Diego State CHEPS study regarding COVID-19 cases following the Sturgis rally:

“This report isn’t science; it’s fiction. Under the guise of academic research, this report is nothing short of an attack on those who exercised their personal freedom to attend Sturgis,” said Governor Noem. “Predictably, some in the media breathlessly report on this non-peer reviewed model, built on incredibly faulty assumptions that do not reflect the actual facts and data.

“At one point, academic modeling also told us that South Dakota would have 10,000 COVID patients in the hospital at our peak.  Today, we have less than 70.  I look forward to good journalists, credible academics, and honest citizens repudiating this nonsense.”

For more data on COVID-19 in South Dakota, visit COVID.SD.GOV.