As cases surge, opinions on virus run the gamut

In the last month Montana has seen its number of COVID-19 infections nearly triple from around 250 to around 700 new cases every day, according to data gathered by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Disease Control and the New York Times.

Among the state’s counties, the Flathead ranks third highest in new infections, having contracted about 531 in the last week, for an average of about 75 new cases every day.

But on local streets, people had a variety of opinions about the pandemic.

“I think people need to pay attention, and that it’s very serious. You know, wear a mask so that you are protecting other people,” said John Harrington of Hungry Horse.

“I see the mandates by the governor and I follow those guidelines, and I think everybody should follow in suit,” Harrington added. “It’s kind of a pain, but it is what it is.”

“Pretty damn serious,” said Kris Ruth of Columbia Falls. “I wish it would go away.”

Dennis Hertrich of Columbia Falls had a very personal perspective on the matter.

“Well, I’ve had it. It sucks.” said Hertrich. “My wife got it three weeks ago, and I just came out of quarantine about five or six days ago. My son comes out of quarantine on Saturday. He never got any symptoms.”

Hertrich went on to describe an illness that began with about four days of extreme fatigue followed by about four days of fever and body aches so intense that old motorcycle injuries he’d sustained years earlier felt as if they’d just been inflicted. This was then followed by two weeks of lingering congestion and fatigue.

The fatigue has still not left Hertrich, who does a lot of physical work and said that his typical nine hour stretches of cutting firewood have dwindled to three or four hours before he’s utterly exhausted.

“Yeah so, my thought is whenever I see people not wearing a mask inside, it kind of makes me mad,” said Hertrich. “Because I’m kind of on my way to recovery but it’s still, you know, like my dad’s 80 years old, and I’m just thankful that we had not been around him.”

“It’s pretty serious and a lot of people aren’t taking it seriously at all,” Hertrich added. “You’re out in public and, you know, even the clerk who just helped me wasn’t even wearing a mask. So it makes me wonder if, do I want to keep giving my business to people who don’t care about my family?”

Shiloh Kelley of Hungry Horse, who works at the Huckleberry Patch, echoed Hertrich’s sentiments.

“I see people a lot of times walking around the store without no mask like- why do I need a mask, you have one on,” said Kelley. “I get kind of offended by that sometimes, because they’re not taking it serious, you know. How’s it going to stop if people don’t try some different measures to cut back on our germ spreading?”

Andy Eckman of Martin City had a differing viewpoint.

“I think it’s a big joke,” said Eckman. “I mean all the lies and stuff you hear on the news. And watch, after the election it’ll all be gone, it’ll just be a cold.”

Ed Pickens of Hungry Horse, who stated a sickness he’d contracted in March must have been COVID-19 after testing positive for antibodies, disagreed.

“I think people need to take it serious, you know, they don’t know enough about it yet to not be taking it serious, said Pickens. “I wear a mask about 90% of the time. Some of it is, if it makes people feel good to see people with masks on, they ought to do it. I’m not 100% saying that the mask is going to save your life but it’s got to help.”

However, Pickens also claimed that some of the precautions may be politically motivated.

“People are using this virus as a scapegoat for all their problems,” said Pickens.

His passenger, Ethan Braughton of Hungry Horse, expanded on that opinion.

“It’s to make everybody feel miserable and controlled,” said Braughton. “That way they don’t vote for the same president again, because everyone’s using Donald Trump as a scapegoat.”

Stephanie Dorman of Coram, who knows at least seven people who have contracted the virus, expressed hope that the pandemic may not be as concerning as she originally thought and a desire for everyone to move on with their lives.

“At the moment I think that we’re just all over it and we’re tired of living in fear, and hopefully we’re finding out it’s not as bad as it was in the beginning, you know, or thought it was,” Dorman said. “Yeah just over it — but still being cautious around elderly you know.”