The mayor of Sioux Falls, S.D., on Tuesday, voted against mandating residents to wear masks after the city council ended up deadlocked when voting on the matter.
The decision was made after dozens of Sioux Falls residents argued in front of the eight-member city council over mask requirements. The subsequent council vote ended in a tie, leaving mayor Paul TenHaken to cast the deciding vote.
TenHaken explained his vote against the mask mandate saying, “I believe the small uptick we’ll see in compliance is not worth the community division that this will create.”
TenHaken has previously urged residents to “wear a dang mask” reports The Washington Post. In October, he signed a letter with 15 other South Dakota mayors, urging residents to wear masks when social distancing was not possible.
According to data from the South Dakota Department of Health, Minnehaha County, where Sioux Falls is located, has the highest rate of coronavirus cases in the state with more than 15,000 cases reported so far. The entire Midwest region of the U.S. is currently experiencing a large surge in numbers of coronavirus cases.
As the Post notes, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), has resisted calls to enact a statewide mask mandate and downplayed the severity of the pandemic. In October, Noem dismissed concerns about rising numbers of cases, attributing it to increased testing throughout the state.
Speaking to The Associated Press, she said, “We have triple the amount of testing that we are doing in the state of South Dakota, which is why we’re seeing elevated positive cases. That’s normal, that’s natural, that’s expected.”
Tom Dean, a doctor in South Dakota, told the Post on Monday, “One in every 20 people has gotten sick in about the last month. Our death rate is the highest in the country, but it’s more than that. These aren’t anonymous cases. These are my patients, my friends, my family.”
On Monday, the governor of neighboring North Dakota, Doug Burgum (R), announced that health care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic will be allowed to continue working in COVID-19 units. This move was made in light of widespread staffing shortages.