Covid hits MSU athletes

[MSU01]

You know things are getting serious when Walmart and the state of Alabama both announced mask requirements this morning! Alabama's wording makes a lot of sense and clearly outlines when the masks are and aren't required to be worn. I'm expecting something similar from Montana in the next week or two.

[codecat]

Then started chanting "My body my choice"...

Please tell me you're just kidding.

Nope...

Wow. Totally selfish. Where does this kind of thinking come from? How does anyone come to the conclusion that their body and their decisions only matter to themselves during a pandemic. The virus doesn't have a brain and it isn't vindictive. It won't single out people that aren't taking precautions or decide to stay away from people that are.

I thought it was classic take on - "PRO - CHOICE"!

[Cataholic]

"The Montana coronavirus map isn't loading at the moment, but yesterday there were only 139 or so active cases in Gallatin County. Shutting down the football season over 139 cases seems like an overreach and an overreaction to reasonable people. If I'm in Billings and was never planning to go to a Cats game this year then how does that mean I'm selfish? This whole coronavirus has turned into bird law; it's not governed by reason.

People's reactions are way out of proportion to the actual impact this virus is having. We've been sold Stephen King's The Stand but what has actually unfolded has not been remotely consistent with that."

Yep, but don't forget Montana deaths are spiking big time because two women in their 90's died yesterday. They tested positive for CV19 so I guess it's possible the virus actually contributed to their deaths? Not sure, nobody knows.

As somebody unfortunately no longer from Montana and in the middle of a Covid hotspot. Montana has been lucky in the fact that there is no mass public transportation, no large gatherings (sporting events, concerts, etc.), and just space to spread out. The minute you go and put 25000 people in Missoula and Bozeman for a football game you are asking for trouble. Just giving the virus that cares little about who or what you are a chance to spread. No one really knows the long-term implications of this virus, although there is more and more evidence trickling out about those. Why put yourself and other Montanans at risk? And, if you get sick because you didn't wear a mask or follow guidelines you are putting unnecessary load and risk onto hospital employees.

Let's just do the social distancing thing and stop making this a political game. Care about each other. I for one am sick of being in semi-lockdown and would like this to end at some point.

There's an increasing amount of research coming out that says that (1) wearing a mask not only protects others, but reduces the exposure of the mask wearer to the virus, and (2) that the amount of the virus that gets into a person's body has a significant impact on whether he/she experiences an asymptomatic or mild case of COVID-19, or experiences a severe or fatal case. The conclusion, the way I see it, is easy to make. If we want to keep the economy open, the virus will continue to spread. But having the majority or all people wearing masks will both decrease the rate of spread, and also make it more likely that those who do contract the virus have mild or asymptomatic cases and don't overburden the health care system by requiring hospitalization. I'm still not sure I'm for mandatory mask orders, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to understand how an intelligent person would still decide not to wear one given the incredibly minor inconvenience it involves and the ever-increasing amount of data in favor of its efficacy.

Politics/reverse psychology is the main reason. The minute scientists started explaining what to do and Liberals agreed, a large portion of the population decided not to do it. Trump not abiding reinforced all of that.

How is anyone supposed to trust a "scientist" who only four months ago said wearing masks is bad and wouldn't help? And who precisely has objected to social distancing? I haven't seen anyone object to that.

How is anyone supposed to trust the people in charge who tell us BLM protests and riots do not spread the virus, but attending weddings and funerals does spread the virus?

It's a novel virus and they keep learning more about it. Initially they didn't recommend wearing a mask for two main reasons - they did not realize how easily the virus was transmitted by asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people, and #2 there was a large mask shortage initially and they thought it best to not encourage people to buy them because front line workers needed them.

And whoever said riots and protests don't spread the virus? I don't do a ton of reading about those things so maybe I'm missing something.

We all want the same thing, to get back to normal, to have a college football season. Why a person would not do everything in their power to slow down or prevent either of those things is simply beyond my comprehension.

It's not that people came out and said that riots and protests don't spread the virus. But as they say, actions speak louder than words. So you have to understand some people are very frustrated and VERY hurt by the fact that they weren't allowed to go to their daughters funeral.....but people are allowed to gather by the hundreds and thousands in parks right here in Bozeman and it's ok.

Hell, that's why so many people were upset this morning about the mask voting. They were kicking people out, and refused to move the meeting outside, because there was too many people. It was deemed dangerous. But social rights parades last month were just fine. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, I don't see how people don't understand how people would be frustrated by this.

Can you imagine? If you had a child that died a couple months ago, maybe even due to something else besides Covid? And you couldn't even have a proper funeral. But then the next day you here on the radio the Sherriff telling people how to properly assemble downtown and in our parks in huge groups? It's completely backwards. Hence why people make fun of those crap decisions, and say the virus must not be able to spread in protests, but definitely spread at weddings and funerals.

No different than suggesting the virus spreads in bars and restaurants but must not spread in Walmart because no one seems very concerned about those places or the essential workers who have worked every single day for the last 4 months.

I mean I do get it. I recently had to make a difficult decision regarding a death in the family due to COVID (the decision was due to COVID, not the death), so I understand that side of it.

But by this same logic, would these same people not also be outraged when you see videos of thousands of people on a beach, not social distancing, having a good time?

The riots and protests are a very difficult subject, as you are likely right that it seems like it would be a breeding ground for the virus. But at the same time how do you shut down a person's right to protest? Race tensions were high before George Floyd and that was the straw the broke the camel's back for a lot of people. I just don't know the answer on that one. In a perfect world no, there are no large gatherings of any kind right now, but this is a far from normal period of history we are in right now, and there was an incident that sparked nation-wide outrage.

It is certainly a crazy time we are living in. I am glad to wear a mask if required. It just isn’t be that big of a deal.
I just hope that the decisions being made are based on an overall strategy to rid us of Covid and not a political viewpoint. Your comment above about riots and protests is a good example in my mind: “how do you shut down a person's right to protest”. You shut it down the same way that people were not allowed to work, not allowed to exercise, not allowed to dine out, etc. There should be no exemption and/or special treatment because it is politically sensitive.

[91catAlum]

"The Montana coronavirus map isn't loading at the moment, but yesterday there were only 139 or so active cases in Gallatin County. Shutting down the football season over 139 cases seems like an overreach and an overreaction to reasonable people. If I'm in Billings and was never planning to go to a Cats game this year then how does that mean I'm selfish? This whole coronavirus has turned into bird law; it's not governed by reason.

People's reactions are way out of proportion to the actual impact this virus is having. We've been sold Stephen King's The Stand but what has actually unfolded has not been remotely consistent with that."

Yep, but don't forget Montana deaths are spiking big time because two women in their 90's died yesterday. They tested positive for CV19 so I guess it's possible the virus actually contributed to their deaths? Not sure, nobody knows.

As somebody unfortunately no longer from Montana and in the middle of a Covid hotspot. Montana has been lucky in the fact that there is no mass public transportation, no large gatherings (sporting events, concerts, etc.), and just space to spread out. The minute you go and put 25000 people in Missoula and Bozeman for a football game you are asking for trouble. Just giving the virus that cares little about who or what you are a chance to spread. No one really knows the long-term implications of this virus, although there is more and more evidence trickling out about those. Why put yourself and other Montanans at risk? And, if you get sick because you didn't wear a mask or follow guidelines you are putting unnecessary load and risk onto hospital employees.

Let's just do the social distancing thing and stop making this a political game. Care about each other. I for one am sick of being in semi-lockdown and would like this to end at some point.

There's an increasing amount of research coming out that says that (1) wearing a mask not only protects others, but reduces the exposure of the mask wearer to the virus, and (2) that the amount of the virus that gets into a person's body has a significant impact on whether he/she experiences an asymptomatic or mild case of COVID-19, or experiences a severe or fatal case. The conclusion, the way I see it, is easy to make. If we want to keep the economy open, the virus will continue to spread. But having the majority or all people wearing masks will both decrease the rate of spread, and also make it more likely that those who do contract the virus have mild or asymptomatic cases and don't overburden the health care system by requiring hospitalization. I'm still not sure I'm for mandatory mask orders, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to understand how an intelligent person would still decide not to wear one given the incredibly minor inconvenience it involves and the ever-increasing amount of data in favor of its efficacy.

Politics/reverse psychology is the main reason. The minute scientists started explaining what to do and Liberals agreed, a large portion of the population decided not to do it. Trump not abiding reinforced all of that.

How is anyone supposed to trust a "scientist" who only four months ago said wearing masks is bad and wouldn't help? And who precisely has objected to social distancing? I haven't seen anyone object to that.

How is anyone supposed to trust the people in charge who tell us BLM protests and riots do not spread the virus, but attending weddings and funerals does spread the virus?

It's a novel virus and they keep learning more about it. Initially they didn't recommend wearing a mask for two main reasons - they did not realize how easily the virus was transmitted by asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people, and #2 there was a large mask shortage initially and they thought it best to not encourage people to buy them because front line workers needed them.

And whoever said riots and protests don't spread the virus? I don't do a ton of reading about those things so maybe I'm missing something.

We all want the same thing, to get back to normal, to have a college football season. Why a person would not do everything in their power to slow down or prevent either of those things is simply beyond my comprehension.

It's not that people came out and said that riots and protests don't spread the virus. But as they say, actions speak louder than words. So you have to understand some people are very frustrated and VERY hurt by the fact that they weren't allowed to go to their daughters funeral.....but people are allowed to gather by the hundreds and thousands in parks right here in Bozeman and it's ok.

Hell, that's why so many people were upset this morning about the mask voting. They were kicking people out, and refused to move the meeting outside, because there was too many people. It was deemed dangerous. But social rights parades last month were just fine. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, I don't see how people don't understand how people would be frustrated by this.

Can you imagine? If you had a child that died a couple months ago, maybe even due to something else besides Covid? And you couldn't even have a proper funeral. But then the next day you here on the radio the Sherriff telling people how to properly assemble downtown and in our parks in huge groups? It's completely backwards. Hence why people make fun of those crap decisions, and say the virus must not be able to spread in protests, but definitely spread at weddings and funerals.

No different than suggesting the virus spreads in bars and restaurants but must not spread in Walmart because no one seems very concerned about those places or the essential workers who have worked every single day for the last 4 months.

I mean I do get it. I recently had to make a difficult decision regarding a death in the family due to COVID (the decision was due to COVID, not the death), so I understand that side of it.

But by this same logic, would these same people not also be outraged when you see videos of thousands of people on a beach, not social distancing, having a good time?

The riots and protests are a very difficult subject, as you are likely right that it seems like it would be a breeding ground for the virus. But at the same time how do you shut down a person's right to protest? Race tensions were high before George Floyd and that was the straw the broke the camel's back for a lot of people. I just don't know the answer on that one. In a perfect world no, there are no large gatherings of any kind right now, but this is a far from normal period of history we are in right now, and there was an incident that sparked nation-wide outrage.

It is certainly a crazy time we are living in. I am glad to wear a mask if required. It just isn’t be that big of a deal.
I just hope that the decisions being made are based on an overall strategy to rid us of Covid and not a political viewpoint. Your comment above about riots and protests is a good example in my mind: “how do you shut down a person's right to protest”. You shut it down the same way that people were not allowed to work, not allowed to exercise, not allowed to dine out, etc. There should be no exemption and/or special treatment because it is politically sensitive.

Bingo. Yes you have a right to protest but its not an essential service any more than attending someone's funeral. Either people have a right to be in non-essential large gatherings, or they don't. Pick one.

Same thing with all the elderly people who died whose families didn't even get to have a funeral for them - and then you turn on the TV and you have hundreds of Democrats, Hollywood elitists, etc. attending a huge funeral for George Floyd. Mostly people who didn't even know him, just wanting to posture as an anti-racist.

Its the ultimate hypocrisy! and this is why many people are pissed off - not because they are too selfish to care about others but because they don't feel they can trust our hypocrite leaders to make decisions based on real health measures rather than politics.

[iaafan]

So you expected the government to take away our first amendment rights after the George Floyd death? Have you thought about how well that would've gone over? Doesn't seem like it would've been a very good idea for anyone to me. I think a better comparison for the protests is Trump's rally in Tulsa. If you're allowed to hold rallies, then you should be allowed to protest.

The big spikes in the virus are mostly in states that didn't do much to prevent it, not in states where a lot of the protesting was going on.

[iaafan]

We had 58 less covid deaths yesterday compared to the same day last week. 993 down to 935. That's a start.

Spain, UK, Italy, and France had 229 deaths/1,709 cases yesterday. USA 935/65,594. We have a ways to go.

[Cledus]

So you expected the government to take away our first amendment rights after the George Floyd death? Have you thought about how well that would've gone over? Doesn't seem like it would've been a very good idea for anyone to me. I think a better comparison for the protests is Trump's rally in Tulsa. If you're allowed to hold rallies, then you should be allowed to protest.

The big spikes in the virus are mostly in states that didn't do much to prevent it, not in states where a lot of the protesting was going on.

Since they took away the first amendment right of going to church, yes. That's exactly what a reasonable person with common sense would say.

South Dakota health officials did contact tracing after the Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore, which was tantamount to a rally. They found not one single new case as a result. You can read about here in the Rapid City Journal: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local ... 3bbc2.html

Your sense of a timeline is out of whack. Protests and riots occurred before people were allowed to go back to church.

[coloradocat]

So you expected the government to take away our first amendment rights after the George Floyd death? Have you thought about how well that would've gone over? Doesn't seem like it would've been a very good idea for anyone to me. I think a better comparison for the protests is Trump's rally in Tulsa. If you're allowed to hold rallies, then you should be allowed to protest.

The big spikes in the virus are mostly in states that didn't do much to prevent it, not in states where a lot of the protesting was going on.

Since they took away the first amendment right of going to church, yes. That's exactly what a reasonable person with common sense would say.

South Dakota health officials did contact tracing after the Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore, which was tantamount to a rally. They found not one single new case as a result. You can read about here in the Rapid City Journal: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local ... 3bbc2.html

Your sense of a timeline is out of whack. Protests and riots occurred before people were allowed to go back to church.

All civil rights are equal, but some civil rights are more equal than others.

[iaafan]

So you expected the government to take away our first amendment rights after the George Floyd death? Have you thought about how well that would've gone over? Doesn't seem like it would've been a very good idea for anyone to me. I think a better comparison for the protests is Trump's rally in Tulsa. If you're allowed to hold rallies, then you should be allowed to protest.

The big spikes in the virus are mostly in states that didn't do much to prevent it, not in states where a lot of the protesting was going on.

Since they took away the first amendment right of going to church, yes. That's exactly what a reasonable person with common sense would say.

South Dakota health officials did contact tracing after the Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore, which was tantamount to a rally. They found not one single new case as a result. You can read about here in the Rapid City Journal: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local ... 3bbc2.html

Your sense of a timeline is out of whack. Protests and riots occurred before people were allowed to go back to church.

George Floyd was just killed by a policeman in broad daylight and it was videoed for the entire world to see. Do you really think it would've went over well to take away everyone's first amendment rights at that time? I don't think you do.

[MSU01]

Some people on this thread will be happy to find out that Governor Bullock's new mandatory mask order does not provide an exception for protestors.

[iaafan]

Some people on this thread will be happy to find out that Governor Bullock's new mandatory mask order does not provide an exception for protestors.

Indeed. Protesters should be wearing masks. No question about that.

[Cats15]

You know things are getting serious when Walmart and the state of Alabama both announced mask requirements this morning! Alabama's wording makes a lot of sense and clearly outlines when the masks are and aren't required to be worn. I'm expecting something similar from Montana in the next week or two.

Well it happened today....

https://www.kbzk.com/news/coronavirus/b ... cases-rise

[Cledus]

So you expected the government to take away our first amendment rights after the George Floyd death? Have you thought about how well that would've gone over? Doesn't seem like it would've been a very good idea for anyone to me. I think a better comparison for the protests is Trump's rally in Tulsa. If you're allowed to hold rallies, then you should be allowed to protest.

The big spikes in the virus are mostly in states that didn't do much to prevent it, not in states where a lot of the protesting was going on.

Since they took away the first amendment right of going to church, yes. That's exactly what a reasonable person with common sense would say.

South Dakota health officials did contact tracing after the Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore, which was tantamount to a rally. They found not one single new case as a result. You can read about here in the Rapid City Journal: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local ... 3bbc2.html

Your sense of a timeline is out of whack. Protests and riots occurred before people were allowed to go back to church.

George Floyd was just killed by a policeman in broad daylight and it was videoed for the entire world to see. Do you really think it would've went over well to take away everyone's first amendment rights at that time? I don't think you do.

No, it would not have gone over well but that wasn't the point of your post that I first quoted. You set the premise that the government can't take away our 1st amendment rights. I accepted your premise. Now you're moving the goal posts. That's a logical fallacy.

How about this guy from Billings who was killed hiking in Red Lodge in March? He was killed by a white guy so that counts, right? He was someone I knew from the neighborhood as a kid. I would have gone to his funeral, but his family had their 1st amendment rights stripped from them and they couldn't have a funeral. Maybe they would feel better about it if you reach out to them and let them know it was perfectly ok to not have a funeral because George Floyd is black. This would demonstrate your convictions in your beliefs.

[catsrback76]

So, the big question now is, are there any cool Bobcat masks available at Scheels or Universal?

[HelenaCat95]

So, if you don't have a mask.....but you're going to the store to buy a mask....how do you get in to buy the mask?

Just kidding - kind of reminded me of the chicken or egg question (I think I need some more coffee).

[ilovethecats]

So, if you don't have a mask.....but you're going to the store to buy a mask....how do you get in to buy the mask?

Just kidding - kind of reminded me of the chicken or egg question (I think I need some more coffee).

Right? It is all so silly anymore.

My favorite is the rule pertaining to bars and restaurants. You know, places where people congregate? You have to wear your mask into the place. You need to wear it if you get up to use the bathroom, or walk anywhere. But if you're at a table or the bar....NO masks!

So funny to me that people don't see how asinine the whole thing is.

What I've learned though is I was completely right about the lockdown this spring. Closing businesses and forcing people in their homes was a complete overreach. They should have just forced the masks on us then and let businesses stay open. You know, like they are right now despite having peak cases? But forcing people from their jobs and schools was definitely the right call.

[TomCat88]

[bobcat99]

So are we going to be forced to wear masks until we have a vaccine?

What's the plan here?

[ilovethecats]

Love Bill Nye. Though he touched the front of the mask. Didn't wash his hands before putting the first one on. Didn't wash his hands after talking the first one off and putting the 2nd one on. He's doing it all wrong.

Are there really people out there who don't understand that masks work? That's scary but I guess nothing surprises me anymore.

[ilovethecats]

So are we going to be forced to wear masks until we have a vaccine?

What's the plan here?

Probably. And then we'll be forced to get that vaccine. And everyone will be fine with that. And if they are not they'll be labeled "selfish". I've seen this song and dance before....