From hair salons in Yankton to casinos in Deadwood, city leaders across the state are talking about easing pandemic-related regulations.
One of those cities is Deadwood, which is dependent on gambling and tourism. Those industries, like so many others, are closed for business.
But there are only a handful of positive COVID-19 cases in Lawrence County. So Deadwood’s city commission wants to let casinos reopen. There will be restrictions, like a mandatory 6 feet between gamblers.
Mayor David Ruth said during a city commission meeting this week that warmer weather is already bringing visitors to town.
“And so we feel that we owe it to our community, both business and residential, to make sure that when people come to town, it is a safe environment,” Ruth said.
Economic pain and isolation fatigue are fueling discussions like that elsewhere. Rapid City is allowing restaurant dining rooms to reopen, with restrictions on customer spacing, as a result of a city council action this week. There are similar talks in Aberdeen. Yankton is preparing to allow hair salons and some other businesses to reopen, if they follow CDC guidelines.
But Yankton City Commissioner Amy Miner said during a commission meeting this week that reopening doesn’t mean going back to the way things were.
“We’re going to have to be accustomed to being in restaurants and having servers with gloves and masks and things,” Miner said. “And businesses need to be thinking about what that looks like, how to keep their workers safe, as well as how to keep their patrons safe.”
The South Dakota Municipal League reports at least 54 cities have adopted pandemic laws or policies. That patchwork arose as Gov. Kristi Noem initially resisted any binding statewide orders. As the governor released her Back to Normal Plan this week, many cities were already talking about rolling back business restrictions.
