Hill County Health Department and Governor's Office respond to Commissioner McLean

The local health director and a representative of the governor’s office have responded to comments questioning the need and motive of the governor’s directive telling people to wear masks when out in public.

At the Hill County Commission’s business meeting last week, Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean, who attended the meeting remotely, made a number of claims about Gov. Steve Bullock’s directive requiring people in counties with four or more active COVID-19 cases to wear masks in certain indoor and outdoor environments.

One such claim was that Bullock’s directive had an unstated motive beyond protecting the public’s health.

Bullock Spokesperson Erin Loranger said this accusation is completely false and that the stated goal of public health is the only motivation for the directive.

“The governor’s priority throughout this pandemic has been to protect the health and safety of all Montanans and that’s the sole intention of his directive,” she said.

Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland said he has concerns about the Bullock’s directive, but he will be wearing a mask, and he encouraged others to do the same and to follow that directive.

“While I do not speak for my other commissioners I will be wearing a mask when out in the public and when in the common areas of the Courthouse,” he said.

Wendland said the Hill County Health Department has been doing a good job keeping people up to date on COVID-19-related news and County Attorney Karen Alley has also provided guidance for how employers should handle masks.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson didn’t respond to email and telephone inquiries by print deadline, but during last week’s county officials meeting he brought up his concern about the need for masks, citing the recent influx of people from out of state in the area.

“We’ve had a tremendous influx of out-of-state people,” he said during the officials’ meeting. “Either driving through town, we’ve had quite a few in the park, we’ve had quite a few in Fresno, way more than we’ve ever had in the past.”

He said the public needs to be aware of this influx and be serious about wearing masks.

During last week’s meeting, McLean also said the she was not sure the governor’s directive was even legal, but Loranger said there is years of precedent within the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirming the legality of these kinds of directives to be issued by governors.

“For over 200 years, the United States Supreme Court has affirmed the authority of states and localities to combat communicable disease under the 10th Amendment,” she said.

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Larson also said the directive is consistent with the U.S. Constitution and Montana law.

“Bullock is acting within his authority under the declared state of emergency,” she said, “The emergency declaration from March 2020 remains in effect, as well as the local emergency declaration from Hill County that was made March 16, 2020, because we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. The actions of Gov. Bullock are constitutional and within his authority, under the Constitution as well as under Montana statutory law.”

Larson said she sympathized with the frustrations of McLean and others who feel stressed by the pandemic, but that measures like the directive are put in place for the safety of everyone in the state.

“I understand the stress and frustration and fear that comes during these times, believe me,” she said, “I, myself have had many sleepless nights over the current situation, but the measures that are being put in place are for one purpose, and that is to protect the people of Montana and to try and contain the spread of COVID-19.”

Further, she said the actions of the Hill County Health Board as well as all county health boards are not just consistent with the law, but are their duty under the law.

“According to Montana Code Annotated 50-2-116, local boards of health are required to protect the public from the introduction and spread of communicable disease, including through use of isolation and quarantine measures,” she said, “That is what we are doing, as well as every other county across the state. Not everyone agrees, and not everyone will, but we do what we do to protect our communities and hopefully keep our economies open.”

During last week’s meeting McLean also said the recent positive cases found by the Hill County Health Department may not be valid, but Larson said this is extremely unlikely.

“PCR testing, which is what is being utilized in Hill County, is the gold standard for all tests. There are certain situations that can contribute to either a false positive or false negative of a test,” she said, “… I do want to state however, that with the science behind the test and all the research that has been done, if someone who is symptomatic tests positive, it is very unlikely that it would ever be a false positive.”

According to an article on Roche Diagnostics’ website, there are circumstances when using PCR tests that can lead to a false positive like lab contamination, and false negatives like the tests being preformed very early or very late in the disease’s life cycle. However, the week said these circumstances are relatively rare and that the tests can identify the virus with 95 percent certainty even in asymptomatic cases.

McLean did not address the specific issue of the directive’s ability to be enforced but many people, including law enforcement officials, have questioned whether or not there is a way to directly enforce a directive from the governor.

Loranger said the directive is enforceable by the State Attorney General, the Department of Public Health and Human Services, a county attorney and local authorities under the direction of the county attorney.

“While the directive focuses on education, law enforcement does have the authority to impose penalties, enforce trespassing laws and other measures for bad actors who are putting the public at risk,” she said.