Hill County Board of Health votes for local mask order

The Hill County Board of Health voted 3-1 to implement a countywide mask order at a special meeting Wednesday after a long and occasionally heated discussion.

The order requires universal mask wearing except for children under the age of 5 - though 3- and 4-year-olds are still encouraged to wear masks - and other specific exemptions.

The order will remain in effect for 90 days, or until the county sees a per-capita spread of COVID-19 of 10 per 100,000 people or lower for two consecutive weeks, after which the board will review all other factors and determine whether the order is still needed.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean voted against the mandate and Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel abstained.

Board members Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson, Kristi Kline and Erica McKeon-Hanson voted for the mandate.

The other specific exemptions allowed in the mandate are for people consuming food or drinks in an establishment that sells such items, people trying to communicate with someone who is hearing-impaired, people engaging in speech-giving, cultural musical, or theatrical performances, provided the audience is socially distanced; people removing a mask for identification purposes; people receiving medical evaluation, diagnosis or treatment; people with medical conditions that would make wearing a mask unsafe, and people engaging in activity that makes mask wearing unsafe or impractical

Confusion over Gianforte's order

After McLean made a motion to not implement any order, which died for lack of second, the board began discussion and many members expressed confusion regarding what Gianforte's mask mandate repeal actually requires.

Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Larson said she interprated the language of the repeal to mean that businesses are still required to follow Centers for Disease Control guidance when it comes to things like masking and social distancing making the repeal not all that different from the previous administration's mask mandate.

Hill County DES Coordinator Amanda Frickel, said based on a call she recently had with the state, Gianforte effectively only repealed the term "mandate" and businesses are still required to follow what the CDC says.

"He's just taking out the big scary word that people don't want to hear because they think they're losing their rights," she said.

Under the section pertaining to businesses, Gianforte' order reads, "businesses should make reasonable efforts to develop and implement appropriate policies based on industry best practices during this emergency. Where no such industry practices exist, such policies should be developed and implemented in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and guidance regarding, masking, social distancing, temperature checks and/or symptom screening, testing, isolating, contact tracing, sanitation, use of disinfection of common and high-traffic areas, and teleworking, in collaboration with public health authorities."

Many present at the meeting disagreed with this interpretation, saying they see this as an encouragement, not a mandate by another name.

McLean said the mandate repeal was an explicit effort to move toward personal responsibility rather than requirement via state government.

She also said people in the community distrust the CDC and said she understands why, calling the organization inconsistent in its messaging.

"People do not trust that source, they just don't, and there are reasons why, their are many reason why," she said.

McLean also seemed to argue that the CDC's guidlines shouldn't apply to the county because it's small.

"We are not nationwide, we are just little Hill County," she said.

She said government entities have gotten funding to deal with COVID-19 that businesses have not and that has made a lot of people angry at the government.

Kline said that may be true, but the matter is irrelevant to the meeting.

"We protect the public health, that's what our goal is, and that's all our goal is," she said.

Kline said even if Larson and Frickel's interpretation is correct and the repeal is effectively just a change in wording, that is not how businesses in the county are treating it.

Havre Mayor Tim Solomon agreed and said he's already seen businesses taking down signs that say the establishment requires masks, and in many businesses he's seen more people without masks than before.

Kline and Solomon both said, given the confusion, it falls to the board to effectively clarify what the Gianforte's order really means.

Testimony and further argument

While the board did not hear testimony from the public in the hearing directly, many read comments they received either during the meeting or prior to it.

Larson read a comment from Havre Public Schools Interim Superintendent Craig Mueller which asked the board to implement an order that would help protect the schools' 2,000 students and staff.

McLean said the virus is not problem for school-age kids, but McKeon-Hanson pointed out that there are still kids who do get very sick from COVID-19 and, even when they don't, they can bring that virus home and spread it.

McLean said the county should adopt a policy of personal responsibility and cited South Dakota as a success story for not closing its schools.

According to analysis by the New York Times, South Dakota has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita in the U.S., surpassed only by North Dakota. The Dakotas were one of, if not the, hardest-hit areas in the latest wave of COVID-19 last year.

The governors of both North and South Dakota have done little to require actions to prevent spread of the virus.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock implemented numerous mandates, especially after the numbers of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations spiked last fall. The numbers started dropping again in Montana in December and have been comparatively low in recent weeks, compared to the fall.

Most of those mandates, including the mask mandate, are what Gianforte has rescinded.

Larson said she reached out to the surrounding Blaine, Liberty, and Phillips counties, and all are following Gianforte's lead for now, and no small counties appear to be adopting local mandates.

However, she said, many local institutions like the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line have implemented mask policies of their own, and the City of Havre itself is in favor of a local mandate.

Peterson read a letter from Hill County Sanitarian Clay Vincent which asked the board to put in a mask mandate for the next few months just to keep COVID-19 numbers down in the area.

Vincent's letter said an order would help shore up support for businesses that are doing the right thing and pointed out that people without symptoms can still carry the virus.

"I'm tired of wearing a mask everywhere, but we still don't have the majority of Hill County residents vaccinated yet," Peterson read from the letter, " ... enforcement would be difficult if not impossible, but our job is to keep Hill County residents safe, and I think this might be our last, best effort."

McLean read emails that did not support a mask mandate, including one from Hill County Attorney Karen Alley that also raised concerns about enforcement and voiced support for an order recommending masks without requiring them.

The letter said local law enforcement needs an action plan for enforcement before any order is made, and that her department is already stretched thin so doing that would be difficult.

McLean also read emails from people in the community who do not want a mask mandate.

One said the mask mandate killed local businesses and people are giving their money to e-commerce businesses like Amazon because of it.

It said restaurants have closed for good in the county while government officials haven't lost a paycheck as they impose restrictions.

She also read a email from a registered nurse in the county which contained misinformation about the supposed ineffectiveness of masks.

Mask wearing is supported by virtually every credible medical organization in the U.S. and the rest of the world as a method of reducing the spread of COVID-19 and their effectiveness has been confirmed in studies, contrary to claims made in the email.

The email also said the mask mandate has destroyed the Hill County community by pitting people against each other, a sentiment McLean agreed with later in the meeting.

"I have seen it destroy my hometown," McLean said reading the email. " ... Give people the facts and let them decide for themselves."

McLean and Peterson said their responses have been overwhelmingly against a local mandate, but Solomon said his experience is the opposite and neither necessarily is a gauge of the public's feelings.

He also said he thinks there are businesses in town that want to implement their own mask policies but don't want to drive away customers and are looking to government to take the heat instead.

"Most of these businesses are looking for someone to be the bad guy, which we need to be because it's for their health," he said.

Solomon said people are used to masks by this point, so it would be best to have a mask order for another couple months or until numbers go further down, because it will be harder to put the mandate back in after cases rise.

Board Member Erica McKeon-Hanson agreed that masks are not a serious imposition.

"This is a really easy thing to do for our neighbors," she said. "It's really easy to wear a mask."

Peterson suggested that if the District 9C basketball tournament doesn't turn up any cases that that might be a good indication as to if the county needs a mandate, but Larson said that would not be a good gauge.

The board voted 4-1 to adopt a 90 day duration, with McLean voting no, and unanimously to add the stipulation that the order would be reviewed if per capita spread of COVID-19 is 10 or lower per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks.

The board also unanimously approved Kline as the board's new secretary.