Coronavirus uptick in Montana

[OntarioHunter]

Talked to my brothers in western Montana and they both said it's a coronavirus sh*tshow there right now. Older brother (he'll be seventy in January and diabetic since age 26) was exposed twice in the same day last week and his partner once that day. He had a very mild cough briefly the next day but so far nothing else. Can't even get tested because they are overrun. Unless you have a fever they won't check you. The problem was tourism wasn't shut down over the summer and everyone was out of work and/or trying to run from the bug and just moving it along. Having a national leader who can't lead also didn't help. Brothers said there were tents and campers set up everywhere, even in parking lots. Never seen so many Texas license plates. Mike had to go up to Glacier Park for a diving exercise and Apgar was arseholes to elbows packed with tourists ... even though the concessions were closed! They should never have opened the parks. Disneyland learned that lesson.

So if you're headed that direction for hunting in a few weeks, GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY. I will use drive through fast food only or out of a can. I'll be staying in a backpack tent till i can get to my trailer. Staying clear of bars and cafes but know the owners and will drop a generous tip off for them before leaving. Same with motel owners. May have to pick up some shotgun ammo before I get there though. Thankfully I am old enough and still US citizen so I can use Medicare if I get real sick. IF the hospital has bed space. Unlike America's now infected Nonilluminated Leader, I will be taking EVERY precaution while in Montana ... as I do every day here. We are still surprisingly clean in this community of 110K. No cases right now which is amazing since we straddle the busy Trans Canada Highway. But everyone I can see here has taken this very seriously ... as have all the leaders, provincial and federal, from all four political parties. We have truly "all been in this together." Not so much in the US.

 

[mtmuley]

Everyone should stay home. mtmuley

 

[ignorethefringes]

Thanks for the heads up. We're heading out a week from Wednesday.

 

[Nameless Range]

Montana is having a pretty big uptick, with some hospitals nearing their capacities.

The “why” is debateable. Could be related to tourism, could be the nonchalant attitudes of Montanans, could be that spread is in some ways unavoidable.

There was a positive case at my son’s daycare two weeks ago. I got tested because I had the sniffles, and it took six days to get my results. I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home. But I felt better after one day, and if my job didn’t allow me to work from home and I didn’t have the ability to take the time off, you can bet I would’ve been at work. Test turned out negative, but I wonder how many people have infected others due to reasons like that.

In the big picture, I think a strong case can be made that ringing your hands over it would be a miscalculation of risk. Common sense goes a long way. Have a good trip to Montana.

 

[JLS]

No need to stay home unless common sense is non-existent.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Everyone should stay home. mtmuley

Yeah, I probably should. I'm retired and live alone and have been self quarantining for a week already (which is not much different from my normal life). A few clients have brought taxidermy stuff by but most have been wearing masks unless outside and everyone keeping their distance. I am prepared to essentially continue quarantine while I'm in Montana. This year there'll be no Black Friday shopping at Cabelas in Kalispell! Not for me.

 

[mtmuley]

Yeah, I probably should. I'm retired and live alone and have been self quarantining for a week already (which is not much different from my normal life). A few clients have brought taxidermy stuff by but most have been wearing masks unless outside and everyone keeping their distance. I am prepared to essentially continue quarantine while I'm in Montana. This year there'll be no Black Friday shopping at Cabelas in Kalispell! Not for me.

I was joking. Sorta. Common sense. Yeah. mtmuley

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

We can't lockdown forever so this thing will spread one way or another. Use some common sense and rub vitamin C all over your skin. It worked for a 74 year old overweight guy I know.

Happy hunting everyone.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Yeah, I probably should. I'm retired and live alone and have been self quarantining for a week already (which is not much different from my normal life). A few clients have brought taxidermy stuff by but most have been wearing masks unless outside and everyone keeping their distance. I am prepared to essentially continue quarantine while I'm in Montana. This year there'll be no Black Friday shopping at Cabelas in Kalispell! Not for me.

There's nothing at Cabelas anyway. Stay safe and do what you need to for your health

 

[OntarioHunter]

We can't lockdown forever so this thing will spread one way or another. Use some common sense and rub vitamin C all over your skin. It worked for a 74 year old overweight guy I know.

Happy hunting everyone.

Where can I buy that stuff? Does it come with a thirty year-old blonde applicator? Preferably one that doesn't require assembly or inflating.

 

[Sytes]

Common sense goes a long way.

Flathead County has exploded. Extremely overwhelmed staffing merely to manage a single web from one positive.
Budgets never intended to support the personnel to manage a situation such as this.
The result *should be... common sense for the common folk. Unfortunately, ill-formed battlelines have been drawn based on tin foil fallacies. Entrenched opinions have defined common sense as desired.

My sense; this is not a battle to be won... rather a new norm. In time a valued vaccination will emerge and until then, may the common sense that errs on the, "Better safe than sorry" prevails.

 

[manitou1]

Talked to my brothers in western Montana and they both said it's a coronavirus sh*tshow there right now. Older brother (he'll be seventy in January and diabetic since age 26) was exposed twice in the same day last week and his partner once that day. He had a very mild cough briefly the next day but so far nothing else. Can't even get tested because they are overrun. Unless you have a fever they won't check you. The problem was tourism wasn't shut down over the summer and everyone was out of work and/or trying to run from the bug and just moving it along. Having a national leader who can't lead also didn't help. Brothers said there were tents and campers set up everywhere, even in parking lots. Never seen so many Texas license plates. Mike had to go up to Glacier Park for a diving exercise and Apgar was arseholes to elbows packed with tourists ... even though the concessions were closed! They should never have opened the parks. Disneyland learned that lesson.

So if you're headed that direction for hunting in a few weeks, GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY. I will use drive through fast food only or out of a can. I'll be staying in a backpack tent till i can get to my trailer. Staying clear of bars and cafes but know the owners and will drop a generous tip off for them before leaving. Same with motel owners. May have to pick up some shotgun ammo before I get there though. Thankfully I am old enough and still US citizen so I can use Medicare if I get real sick. IF the hospital has bed space. Unlike America's now infected Nonilluminated Leader, I will be taking EVERY precaution while in Montana ... as I do every day here. We are still surprisingly clean in this community of 110K. No cases right now which is amazing since we straddle the busy Trans Canada Highway. But everyone I can see here has taken this very seriously ... as have all the leaders, provincial and federal, from all four political parties. We have truly "all been in this together." Not so much in the US.

What is a "National Leader" supposed to do? You mandate masks and distancing... half the population hates you. You open the economy, the other half hates you. He isn't God! (or a doctor). The best scientists and doctors in the world are working this and all scratching their heads! What leader do you propose would accomplish a satisfactory result?

 

[sapperJ24]

Yellowstone County to announce additional measures this afternoon after passing an infection threshold. We'll see if Flathead County considers additional measures, but currently seems unlikley,
https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/f...spond-to-bullock-say-they-support-mask-choice

Yellowstone County health officer set to announce new restrictions to curb spread of COVID-19

On Friday, Oct. 9, reported cases of COVID-19 infection reached 598, exceeding the 565 mark indicating 50 cases per 100,000 people.

www.ktvq.com

"Yellowstone County Health Officer John Felton and members of the Unified Health Command Medical / Technical Team will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, to announce the issuance of a Health Officer Order to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Yellowstone County.

According to a press release issued Saturday morning, on Friday, Oct. 9, reported cases of COVID-19 infection reached 598, exceeding the 565 mark indicating 50 cases per 100,000 people."

edit; To clarify, according to the state health dept., Flathead County currently has over 1,000 active cases (out of a population of just over 100,000).

Story Map Series

This story map was created with the Story Map Series application in ArcGIS Online.

montana.maps.arcgis.com

 

[JLS]

What is a "National Leader" supposed to do? You mandate masks and distancing... half the population hates you. You open the economy, the other half hates you.

It's not a binary decision. Common sense allows for a melding of different tactics to achieve common goals.

If your goal is popularity, and people not hating you, you shouldn't be a leader.

 

[Dan O]

I may be wrong but I believe shutting down the state is the Governors call not the President's.

 

[mtmuley]

I'm betting the "uptick" is being caused by the influx of people from other places packing Montana right now. No reason not to think cases won't increase even more when hunters flood our state. As usual, politics will arrive in the thread. mtmuley

 

[jryoung]

What is a "National Leader" supposed to do? You mandate masks and distancing... half the population hates you. You open the economy, the other half hates you. He isn't God! (or a doctor). The best scientists and doctors in the world are working this and all scratching their heads! What leader do you propose would accomplish a satisfactory result?

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Chuck Swindoll

 

[JLS]

COVID is pretty much endemic in every corner of the nation. The rate of spread is a direct reflection of how well folks adhere to CDC guidelines IMO.

 

[jabber]

As usual, politics will arrive in the thread. mtmuley

The original post was dripping with politics...

Don't understand how OP is so concerned about Montana's outbreak and the US not shutting everything down, but yet has plans to come visit anyway. Guess he just wants others to practice what he preaches.

 

[OntarioHunter]

What is a "National Leader" supposed to do? You mandate masks and distancing... half the population hates you. You open the economy, the other half hates you. He isn't God! (or a doctor). The best scientists and doctors in the world are working this and all scratching their heads! What leader do you propose would accomplish a satisfactory result?

I am no Liberal Party advocate by any means but if you're looking for an example of a leader who accomplished a much more satisfactory result, look to Canada. But again, no one is crediting Trudeau and he certainly has not been trying to take any. ALL the parties and ALL the provincial premieres (from four different parties ... correction five parties) have been on the same page, following the experts' advice, setting the example for us to follow with their own actions. The federal govt has been operating as a minority govt since before this started. That means no party holds a majority in Parlaiment which means Trudeau is vulnerable to being forced to call for an election at any given moment. Everyone recognized that it made more sense to work together in this crisis rather than the acrimony and confusion that an election would cause (is this sounding familiar?). And it is certainly doubtful the Liberals would carry an election given current unrelated corruption scandals. But our leadership across the board from every party has been working to save lives first and foremost. Forget about the "fight back" or "deep state" conspiracy crap. These guys have had their priorities in the right place from the get go. And business has survived. I cannot imagine how the American response could be handled worse! It's just that bad.