Mask mandate removed in Lake County by commissioners
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LAKE COUNTY – A joint meeting of the Lake County Commissioners and Board of Health last Tuesday, March 16, yielded two decisions undoing official actions taken a year ago when COVID-19 caused a two-month shutdown of all but those services and businesses deemed essential.
First, the commissioners unanimously voted to rescind the resolution adopted last March that declared a public health emergency in Lake County. Next, the five-member health board voted to align the county’s policy on mask wearing with Gov. Greg Gianforte’s executive order of Feb. 12, which rescinded his predecessor’s mask mandate.
Comments from the crowded commission chambers and a Zoom audience reflected the ideological divide between those who continue to see the virus as an imminent threat and support the Centers for Disease Control recommendations to wear masks and keep a distance from others in public places and those who believe it’s a matter of personal choice.
At the onset, public health director Emily Colomeda gave an updated tally of COVID numbers (25 current cases, three hospitalizations and 27 COVID-related deaths), and she advocated keeping the emergency declaration in place.
“The virus doesn’t care that it’s been a year,” she said. “I have hope that the end is coming because of vaccines and natural immunity, but we’re not there yet.”
Barbara Markham, a longtime nurse and member of the health board, also favored keeping the declaration in place.
“This is not the time to close out the resolution and give people the idea we’re winning because we’re not,” she said. “We just need to hang in a little while longer.”
Initially, Commissioner Bill Barron told the audience he was in favor of continuing the emergency declaration because it enhances the county’s ability to respond quickly if COVID numbers begin to tick upward again. He also shared a letter signed by members of the COVID task force, a coalition of county and tribal governments and healthcare providers, asking that the declaration remain in place.
On the other hand, Commissioners Gale Decker and Dave Stipe both favored dropping the declaration. Deckernoted that when it was passed a year ago, the virus was a virtual unknown with a potentially deadly impact, especially on vulnerable populations.
“It was like we were waiting for a tsunami. We were afraid we were going to get overwhelmed, especially healthcare workers,” he said. “As I reflect a year later, I don’t see us being in the same position.”
He noted that vaccines are readily available, vulnerable populations have largely been inoculated and healthcare workers are better prepared with treatments and protective equipment. “Are there concerns? Certainly. But I feel far removed from where we were a year ago,” he said.
Audience member Tracy Sharp told the commissioners that continuing the emergency declaration was akin to “running around with the emergency lights going all the time.” Removing the declaration, he suggested, would signal a calmer, more methodical approach to the virus.
Another member of the audience said maintaining the declaration “is almost like crying wolf. You say we’re in an emergency, when all around us we don’t see it.”
After receiving an assurance from County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher that the emergency declaration could be quickly reinstated if numbers begin to rise, Barron joined his colleagues in voting to rescind it.
Health board members Markham and Logan Lloyd joined the commissioners on the next action, which was deciding whether to keep or drop the county’s directive to wear masks in public places. At the onset of the public discussion, the commissioners clarified that the masking directive was never a mandate, nor did it ever penalize businesses or individuals who ignored it.
Tribal Council Chair Shelly Fyant of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes expressed her concern that the county had repealed the emergency declaration and that the move might dismantle the task force. She also pointed to the rise in more contagious, and possibly more deadly, virus variants as reason to remain vigilant.
“We’re getting a lot of impatient members wanting to open up and have large gatherings,” she said. “We’re asking everyone to be patient and follow the science until we reach herd immunity.”
In the meantime, she added that the council was not planning to relax protocols designed to protect tribal members and employees.
She also suggested that there could be economic repercussions for those businesses that opt not to require masks. “A lot of people are asking who requires masks and who doesn’t,” she said. “We can’t mandate where people shop, but we can spend our dollars elsewhere.”
Tribal Councilman Martin Charlo also voiced concerns about retreating from the masking directive and emergency declaration, especially in light of the more than 30 million infections and 554,000 COVID-related deaths in the United States.
“I appreciate the collaboration, we did a lot of good things,” he said of the task force. “I will continue to mask to protect my family, my community and to protect you as well.”
Dr. Megan Vigil, the Lake County Public Health officer, announced her support for continuing the masking directive and said her position was based on science. “Mask mandates do mitigate spread,” she said. “It’s not to help the people who are wearing the masks, it’s to protect others from the droplets they might spread.”
Opposition to masking ranged from those who insist masks don’t help stop the spread of the virus and are unhealthy for the wearer, to those who believe it should be left up to individuals to decide.
“What is a mask going to do for me that my own body won’t do?” asked one audience member. “We’ve got to stop living in fear.”
Ultimately the board voted to adopt language from the governor’s executive order, which states in part, “individual responsibility remains Montana’s best tool to combat the spread of COVID-19.” The order also encourages Montanans to wear masks “and follow the best industry practices adopted by any business they visit to slow the spread of the virus.”
Commissioners emphasized that businesses, school districts and healthcare facilities may continue to mandate mask wearing as they see fit, and that the county will back those decisions.
“We support businesses and entities like schools and hospitals making their own rules that are best for the safety of employees and customers,” said Commissioner Stipe.
“I strongly believe in people staying the hell away from each other,” he added. “If we stay away, keep our hands clean and practice good hygiene, we’ll get through this.”
