South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem hasn't used the power of state government to compel mask-wearing.
The state is in the midst of a surging COVID-19 outbreak as the US girds itself for a challenging winter of combating the pandemic.
Despite insistent urgings from public health experts across the globe, the CEO of a South Dakota-based healthcare system has refused to wear a mask.
Sanford Health CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft wrote in an email to staff that he had experienced COVID-19, but had returned to work and wouldn't be donning a mask.
For me to wear a mask defies the efficacy and purpose of a mask and sends an untruthful message that I am susceptible to infection or could transmit it.
Kelby Krabbenhoft CEO, Sandford Health Business Insider reports Krabbenhoft said that for those who hadn't contracted COVID-19, mask-wearing was a 'sensible choice.'
One unnamed hospital worker called Krabbenhoft's stance 'appalling.'