Our little town is at it again and this time it's all about a MASK MANDATE! Perhaps from my post on June 1st you have a good idea of the Conservative ideologies our town holds. It's really kinda like Mayberry after it was colorized with some liberal outsiders just to piss off Barney. Actually, we have seen a lot of outsiders, mostly Cali folks who moved here, who for the most part came here to share in our conservative views but then there are some who never let the demonic California politics remove their talons from them. We also have a silver spoon Governor who lives in Southern Idaho (Boise) where all the REAL Liberals moved to when vacating their uber alt-left swamps...looking for a better place to choke out! So there is that. Oh, and at present we are trying to recall Governor Little as his progressive, liberal ideologies are simply NOT in line with our, NORTH IDAHO, Conservative, Christian morals and values as well as our understanding of our Constitutional rights to our freedoms. It's just a LITTLE RECALL but that is not what I am here to write about today.
Like many things as of late, what we didn't think we would EVER experience is the fact that our Local Health Department, Panhandle Health, would take it upon themselves to dictate to US, the citizens of Kooten County, how to live our lives with a mandatory mask initiative! As it is, some of the BIG BOX stores like Costco, and soon Home Depot and Rite Aid will require masks to enter, which is making our shopping decisions a bit difficult, but the majority of those who think this Mask-mandate is ridiculous are shopping elsewhere. If we must go to a Big Box store, we will go to Lowes (thank you Lowe's for not being stupid!) or independently owned places like Ace hardware and local grocery stores where sanity and personal freedoms still exist! So back to what happened today. I didn't even know that our local health district was going to have a vote to mandate masks....I had to hear it on Social Media, which is how, I suppose all of the 500 or so other people who were there heard about it as well.
Look for a parking place
It was 3:00 before I could head out of the house and go to the "meeting" which started a 3:0o. I dragged my 16 year old daughter with me so that she could take pics and experience something that she had never dealt with before. We got there and, OK, where to park? Please remember, we are a rural community and there is NEVER a real issue with parking pretty much anywhere, but today, at Panhandle Health the parking lot was overflowing with cars, the shoulders of the road were full and cars were parked in every square inch available. But guess what, right there, in the front, was a parking spot that fit my GIANT HUMMER just fine! I am assuming a Liberal who was so disgusted with all the American flags, all the protesters against wearing masks, dozens of black leather clad motorcycle riders and a myriad of Military Vets triggered them to leave. No matter, I GOT FRONT ROW PARKING!
It's a mask!
The ONLY masks I saw there were the hysterical kind. But let me tell you, there were signs, flags, patriots, little kids, big kids, grandma's, grandpa's and a LOT of concerned, Conservative people.
Outside Panhandle Health, North Idaho
Outside Panhandle Health, North Idaho
Concerned citizens Outside Panhandle Health, North Idaho
Outside Panhandle Health, North Idaho
So what happened at this meeting of the board of directors of our local Health District? Well, first of all, there was NO actual meeting! It was, OMG a ZOOM meeting! I kid you not! We have a population of 169,545 for the ENTIRE county...1,316 sq miles. It's not really that tiny of a place, just spread out. Out of all of those people we have had ONE death from THE COVID and this man in his 70's died after being hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications. Ok, so being sick with something else already and having COVID was a "complication" to his current health issues? See, they just don't really tell you the truth of the matter. But, it is sad when someone dies of anything. However, my point is, that we have had ONE death and our Health Dept. board members couldn't actually come to this; well it was unscheduled and a kinda secret meeting... Nope, they ZOOMED it! People packed into the lobby, into the main area and right by the TV that broadcast the Meeting. Yep, that's how it went down! No talking back and forth, no personal interaction from the community, just a TV screen with the board of directors.
Small portion of people packed inside Panhandle Health district office
This pic is from the back of the room, where people were straining to see and hear the ZOOM CAST! It was too claustrophobic for me to stay up front for long. But I must say I was pretty disgusted that these board members couldn't make time to actually be there in person! We all did! So, a special thanks to our friends at North Idaho News who took notes, here's a rough draft of what went down:
Sheriff:
Met with all the Chiefs of Police in Kootenai County.
We do not have the time or capacity to enforce a mask mandate. We can work with education idea and encouragement.
"A mandate is unenforceable" I encourage no mandate.
Chairman of the Board:
"I have no medical training...I believe I had Covid 19 in February when I flew to Washington DC..and I came through it just fine...threat to General population is minimal...This is not the common flu...death rates do not show me it is a larger threat than the flu...yes we can make the recommendation... i see no reason we should mandate the use of masks...this has become a political issue and i don't think we need to be involved as a health board generating more of a political issue...I think we need a roll call vote."
Dr. Mclandress's motion was refused "a second" by other members and they requested to table the action until next week. Jai Nelson made the motion to postpone any discussion on it until their next regular meeting.
Dr. Mclandress's made a point of order that his motion would fail based on no second.
Dr. Mclandress's motion to require a masks failed.
The board decided to reconsider it during their regular board meeting on Thursday July 23rd at Panhandle Health.
Dr. Mclandress opposes putting it off until July 23rd. All other board members voted Yes to put it off to July 23rd.
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Panhandle health was asked if those who are listed are symptomatic and the answer is symptoms are not included so some of the positives are showing no symptoms.
There have been 7 long term care facilities affected locally including patients and staff.
Total deaths, directly attributed, is 1.
CDC does not use the test that looks for the antibody. The test being used looks for the virus itself.
As of yesterday 1,051 positive tests, meaning they have the virus, not the antibody. A lot of the patients are being evaluated through tele-health. "A lot of them can be taken care of at home."
Any threat the ICU will be overpopulated. Modeling projections show in the next two weeks they will continue to see an increase. The answer if they will be overpopulated was not directly answered.
Question: "We do not have a threat that our facilities will not be able to handle the projected cases....?" Answer: Not as of this moment (do we have a threat our facilities will not be able to handle the projected cases)
In a statement Kootenai Health has required every employee to wear a mask and shows a much less positive rate and they encourage the mandate of masks.
Idaho fatality rate is .87
Question: Out of 1,025 how many were symptomatic?
Answer: "Panhandle Health does not track that".
-Rebuttal "...you guys are making decisions without all the information." and the gentleman asking the question was cut off.
Rate of positives increasing exponentially because testing is increasing exponentially.
Question: "how much of the spread is caused by Asymptotic individuals?"
Answer: "...it is occuring..." but they don't have that information "Im waiting for the really smart people in the laboratories to tell us..."
One infected person in Washington, who had symptoms, was in a room and +/-70% of those in the room with them got Coronavirus and one or two people died from it.
ONE OR 2 PEOPLE?
Ok, so this is the type of "science" and "factual information" we are ALL dealing with regarding sorting out COVID facts! Our health dept. has NO idea how many people who tested + had NO symptoms! Which could certainly imply that perhaps the test was incorrect or it was picking up on a old infection. This is actually IMPORTANT information to know! Personally I think people should be tested at least twice from different labs if those in power want REAL factual data! And then when asked about Asymptomatic individuals, one board member answers, "it is occuring..." Well, how do you know that? And then he goes on to make a statement regarding a infected person in WASHINGTON STATE, "who had symptoms" and "and +/-70% of those in the room with them got Coronavirus and one or two people died from it." One or Two? Um, if you are going to answer a question regarding Asymptomatic people then don't go into the dark dark woods with your answer...you may never be able to get out before you are eaten by a Werewolf or the Zombies get you!
GOOD NEWS...maybe.
Well, they couldn't come to a decision at that, kinda secret, mask mandate meeting! So, there will be another one, this time not so hidden from the public. The Panhandle Health District has a regularly scheduled board meeting on Thursday July 23rd. Let's BRING IT ON Coeur d'Alene, Hayden, Post Falls and ALL OF KOOTENAI COUNTY!
