South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Has 'Mask-Free' Dinner For Pages

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem hosted a dinner on Wednesday evening for young legislative pages. She posted some pictures on Twitter along with the caption, “Fun page dinner tonight at the Governor’s residence. Our future is bright!”

One picture shows a large group packed together on stair steps with one person wearing a mask. Another shows a group of around 18 people at a dinner table with no visible masks being worn.

Kristi Noem Twitter

It is unclear if any COVID-19 pandemic mitigation practicals are being practiced. Governor Noem had been at President Biden's inauguration in Washington DC earlier on Wednesday.

Noem has tweeted her feelings on wearing face masks to help protect others from getting COVID-19 when an asymptomatic person could be spreading the virus by saying “If folks want to wear a mask, they are free to do so. Those who don’t want to wear a mask shouldn’t be shamed into it, and govt should not mandate it. We need to respect each other’s decisions. In SD, we know a little common courtesy can go a long way.”

Today the South Dakota Department of Health has reported 6 additional COVID-19 deaths bringing the states total to 1,673.