Bullock amends mask directive to include schools

At a press conference Wednesday Gov. Steve Bullock announced that he is amending the directive he issued July 15 that requires people in counties with four or more active cases of COVID-19 to wear face masks in certain indoor and outdoor environments to include public and private K-12 schools in preparation for the upcoming re-opening of many such institutions this fall.

Bullock said this decision is based on the advice he’s received from health experts and organizations in Montana and beyond.

“We have to follow the guidance not just in Montana, but at the federal level,” he said. “Every week I’ve been on a call with the vicepresident, the coronavirus task force, and every week over the last seven or eight weeks they talked about how you safely stay open, how you re-open schools, and consistently, time and time again they say masks have to be part of that equation.”

Bullock, a Democrat, cannot run for re-election due to term limits and is running for the U.S. Senate, facing incumbent Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Wendie Fredrickson, who is running as a Green Party candidate although the Green Party told the Havre Daily News they have no affiliation with her or the PAC supporting her.

Bullock said that while Montana is still doing better than most other states in the U.S., the recent surge of COVID-19 cases is evidence that the state still doesn’t have the situation under control.

“We were at, I think, 1,000 cases July 1 and we’re north of 5,000 now,” he said. “We don’t have our hands around this yet.”

He said the amendment specifying schools are included in the mask directive would apply to indoor spaces as well as organized outdoor activities.

Bullock said everyone has the same end goal of protecting their children as schools open back up, and there are many differing viewpoints on how to do that.

However, he said, he thinks highly recommending that people wear face masks is not enough.

“For those that are strongly encouraging the wearing of face coverings or masks, I do fear that that won’t be enough to keep those teachers and students safe,” he said. “Every other public and government building requires face coverings and there’s no principled reason why the same shouldn’t be the case in our schools.”

Bullock said he recently had a conversation with a local government official who asked him what it would take to reach Phase 3 of the state’s re-opening plan at this point.

He said Phase 3 can be reached in one of two ways, neither of which the state has achieved.

The first, Bullock said, is having a vaccine.

He said last week he went to Inimmune, a biotech company in Missoula, that has been working as part of the nationwide effort to develop a vaccine, but neither they, nor the country as a whole are close yet.

“They have Montanans working day and night to be part of that vaccine solution, even as they’re working so hard, though, they acknowledge that at vaccine is still some time away,” he said.

Bullock said the only other way to reach Phase 3 is for Montanans to adapt to having the virus present in their communities and acknowledging their collective responsibility to keep each other healthy.

“Living with the virus doesn’t mean ignoring or denying it or pretending it will magically go away one day,” he said.

He said it’s important to remember that 80 Montanans have died as a result of the virus and 150,000 of their fellow Americans have as well.

“Behind every one of those deaths is a grieving family, and often a grieving community,” he said. “… Clearly, at least collectively, we have not yet learned how to live with the virus in our presence.”

Bullock also pointed to Phillips County as evidence of this claim, which he said, went from no active cases to 68 active cases over the course of a week, not due to people bringing the virus in, but from one sporting event and a subsequent visit to a bar.

He said similar scenarios are possible at events like county fairs and other large gatherings.

The second thing Bullock cited as evidence of this is that he’s still hearing from public health officials that see people outright ignoring their quarantine and isolation orders and he said Montanans need to acknowledge the efforts and expertise of their local health officials.

“Learning to live with this virus in our presence means respecting that our public health officials are working damn hard to protect all of us,” he said.

Bullock said there is no practical way he can issue another directive to solve this problem, but that local institutions need to support their health officials who’s orders are already enforceable.

“There really isn’t a directive I could put out to make people follow local public health … all of local government has to have those public health officials’ back,” he said.

Bullock said that the only way for things to approach social and economic normalcy is for Montanans to learn how to live with the virus, and that the economy cannot survive without a healthy workforce.

“That’s the only way we’re going to get to Phase 3,” he said. “And it’s the only way our schools will be open and remain open, and the only way to mitigate the illnesses and indeed the losses of life, and it’s the only way that we’ll be able to go down the path toward economic recovery.”

Bullock then provided details about a new grant program to be funded by money from the CARES Act, 20 percent of which Montana still has to allocate, targeting a specific sector of the economy.

“There’s one type of business that has been hit particularly hard because of our collective inability to get to a Phase 3,” he said, “… The live entertainment industry.”

Bullock said the state is launching the Live Entertainment Grant Program which will make funds available to Montana based businesses and nonprofits directly engaged in the live-entertainment business whose revenues primarily come from those kinds of events.

“These businesses really are fundamental to the quality of life we enjoy, and they employ hundreds of workers, but because large groups can’t gather acts aren’t touring … their revenues have been driven to zero,” he said. “Without additional support to our live entertainment venues, we risk losing those cultural assets permanently. This grant program is meant to ensure the long-term viability of live entertainment in Montana.”

See related story on A6.

Bullock also announced a second grant program that will be launched next week called the East Edge of Glacier Park Tourism Business Grant Program.

He said business in that area have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic due to their side of the park being closed, and virtually their entire revenues dependent on visitation to keep their operations going year-round.

Bullock said tourist-reliant business in that area will be able to apply for a grant of up to 25 percent of their 2019 gross revenue up to a maximum of $40,000 provided they have exhausted the resources available through the Agriculture Adaptability and the Business Stabilization Grant Programs.

He said the program has $2 million available for now.

Bullock also announced an increase in funding for the Business Stabilization Grant Program, which he said, is the most in demand grant program the state is offering, having supported 8,000 businesses around the state with a total of about 70 million dollars.

He said it’s obvious that many of these businesses are facing continued financial struggles that require the program to be extended.

Bullock said businesses that have received a grant from the program before will be eligible to receive a second round of support for three additional months equal to the first payment received.

He said emails will be sent to previous applicants and they will have until Sept. 2 to accept or decline the second grant and payment will arrive within days of reply.

He said the state is looking into making a second round of grants available for nonprofits as well.

Bullock also talked about recent development on the federal level including the fact that Congress has still not agreed on a relief package, which said has necessitate that the state support itself as best it can.

“By being careful stewards of our CARES Act dollars at the state level, we’ve been able to be flexible and pick up the tab where the federal government fails to do so,” he said.

Bullock addressed President Donald Trump’s recent executive order attempting to bypass congress to provide unemployment benefits and the complications it has created with its new requirements.

“I know that Montanans need this extra support that they deserve during these challenging times, but unfortunately the federal government changed the rules again,” he said.

Bullock also said it would take at least three weeks to establish grant funding and provide full guidance for implementation.

Bullock said, in the meantime, the state would use CARES Act dollars to get those 400 extra dollars into Montanan’s hands until the federal government can start providing it.

He said the state will similarly address Congress’ lack of support for schools.

“Instead of waiting on Washington we’ll be using CARES Act dollars to look out of schools in in the time they need it most,” he said. “… Our schools can’t afford to wait.”

Bullock said the state has sent out $56 million to Montana schools so far and will continue to provide Personal Protective Equipment in preparation for their re-openings.

He also praised efforts of local school boards and administrator to put proper safety measures in place for re-opening and will continue to try to make as many resources as possible available for people working already stressful jobs with the added burden of the pandemic.

Bullock also said as more Montanans return to work and schools begin to re-open he wants to make sure child care is available for working parents.

He said $50 million has been allocated to increase child care options, $30 million of which will be in grants to maintain and expand child care for school age children, $10 million will be used to support families with special circumstances that require in home care and $8 million will be put toward supplemental payments to facilities in order to expand care slots.

Bullock also provided new information on the state’s testing capacity.

He said Mako Medical Laboratory has conducted more than 13,000 tests in the last three weeks, and MSU may be on the verge of getting the equipment needed to process 1,000 per day.

Bullock said by pooling resources, the state may be able to process up to 4,000 tests a day, but that would require everything going perfectly.

He said if people want to see recovery the state needs to get to Phase Three, and to do that, people need to take personal responsibility for their own health and that of their neighbors.

“Be mindful of the people around you who are more vulnerable and be extra cautious about how your behavior may impact those more susceptible to extreme illness as a result of this virus,” he said.

Bullock said despite the obvious fatigue he’s seen among Montanans regarding the pandemic situation there is cause of optimism and that many people and businesses are taking the situation seriously and without them things would be far worse.

“We never have discussions about the cases that weren’t transmitted,” he said, “… It’s truly painful to know that we’ve lost 80 Montanans to COVID-19, but we don’t have enough of a discussion about those lives that were saved by our collective actions.”

He said maintaining the optimism that the collective actions make a difference is what will make Phase 3 possible.

“We can and we will return to a time where we can enjoy a concert with friends and family, but that’s on all of us and the actions we take now and in the foreseeable future,” he said.