The Ravalli County Commissioners held a meeting last Thursday to discuss a proposed joint letter with the Ravalli County Board of Health to the community concerning the recent increase in active COVID-19 cases in the county. According to the local Public Health Department reports, the number of active cases on any given day has increased from three on September 8 to 205 on October 23, that is, in a span of seven weeks. In the same time period, the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 has grown from 0 to 9. Ravalli County added 75 new cases on Monday. The total number of cases in the county reported from the beginning of the pandemic is 500.
The first change to be made to the draft of the proposed joint letter that was presented for consideration was a change to the first sentence which said that the joint statement was being issued in regards to “the recent dramatic increase” in COVID-19 cases. Commission Chairman Chris Hoffman immediately suggested that the first sentence in bold at the top of the letter could be “cut down considerably,” primarily by removing the reference to a “recent dramatic increase” since it is mentioned again in the body of the message. He also mentioned that the Sheriff would be releasing his own statement about the COVID-19 situation.
Commissioner Jeff Burrows, who sits on the Board of Health, noted that at its last meeting the Board allocated $5,000 of its own funds to an information campaign aimed at encouraging voluntary practices to try and stem the rising tide of infections in the county.
The recommended practices were also listed as: wear a mask in public; wash hands and frequently used surfaces regularly; avoid large gatherings where social distancing is not possible; practice social distancing; stay home if you are sick (including work, school, and gatherings); respect and follow guidelines set by private businesses and public entities including schools.
The message basically reiterates the county commissioners’ stand as previously announced that they are not going to enforce any mandates from the Governor’s Office but they are going to strongly encourage people to follow the guidelines.
Burrows expressed his own disagreement with the Board of Health decision to do an advertising campaign to educate the public and encourage following the guidelines because the money could be better spent. He said anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock has already heard the message.
Out of 10 people making public comment, only one wore a mask and suggested that the guidelines needed to be enforced. The rest said, “no way.” Several denied that there was a pandemic. Alan Lackey called it a “fakedemic” and said the government was instilling needless fear in the public. Several denied that masks were effective at all, some said that wearing them is worse than not wearing them because of things they had read from “experts.”
“Sick people need to wear masks, not healthy people,” said Heather Thurs. “Masks have a place and a purpose, and it is not in the healthy public.”
A couple of people stated that they believed the PCR tests being used to test for exposure to COVID-19 is “unreliable.”
Several speakers mentioned the importance of a free individual’s right to choose how to protect their own health.
Darryl Poole said that there may be a lot of deaths nationally related to COVID-19, but that a lot of those deaths, “statistically speaking,” were “people with morbidities who were already going to die by the end of the year anyway. That sounds crass and hard, but it’s life.”
“I’m not part of a collective,” he said. “I’m not and I never will be. So, when you think it’s my responsibility to take care of you, then I’m just not going to do it. I wish you well in your own endeavor, but I’m not going to do it because I’m a free American and I believe in the principles the United States was founded upon.”
Kierstin Schmitt, the lone masker to speak up, said that she hates wearing a mask, “but nobody knows anything much about this virus. No one in this room is an expert.” She said that she believes the experts who are recommending masks know what they are talking about. She said that people can spread the disease for days before they show any symptoms and that’s why healthy feeling people do need to wear them. She said it is an effective way to reduce transmission among people and you do it to protect others, not necessarily yourself.
Asked by one person what the purpose of writing such a letter is, Hoffman said, “We are just trying to stay in touch with the community. It is not the county commission’s job to enforce the governor’s mandate.” But with the hospitals in the area filling up, he said, it made sense to make a joint statement so that people know where the county commission and the Board of Health stand on the issue. He said the worst damage being done to the community in all this is the divisiveness it has created in the community.
He said no one wants to be mask enforcers. He said, “We just want people to make good decisions.”
“Good God, people, can we please just let people be who and what they are,” said Hoffman. “You’re not going to change anyone’s mind.” He said at this point in time, neither the public health, county commissioners, sheriff or county attorney are interested in becoming the mask police.
Burrows said that we have been told from the beginning that it was going to go through our community and it is. He said the aim of masking and distancing was to flatten the curve, not avoid the contagion. He said the infection has been “over-hyped.” He said he had run the numbers himself and found that the death rate from COVID-19 was not extreme. He said the death rate in Ravalli County from the disease was only .01%. In the state, he said it was .026%; in the nation .069% and in the world .014%. He said the reaction to this has been an over-reaction. At this point, he said, the cure has become worse than the illness.
Burrows said that he was fed up with people saying that some people don’t care that people are dying. He said nobody wants anyone in the community to die or get sick. So, he doesn’t even respond to “that garbage” anymore.
The Commissioners approved the letter “in concept” and voted unanimously to send it on to the Board of Health for its consideration and final approval.
Update: On October 28, the Commissioners released the following letter (click on the letter to enlarge).
michelle says
So Super-spreader 1, Albersons, (bargains to die for), and Safeway NOT! can continue to infect the public by not enforcing a mask mandate? They are private business and can make any rule they want. Even Putin is enforcing a national mask manddate. Why we let a few cranks dictate our safety is a puzzle.