Well, we're about a month in to the legislative session. So, I figured it might be a good time to throw out a question. Have we seen a massive spike in COVID-19 case numbers in Lewis & Clark County, the home county of our state's capitol in Helena?

We heard the dire predictions a month ago, as many Republican lawmakers refused to wear masks, and wanted to meet in person for the 67th session of the legislature.

A Democrat state senator from Belgrade said this to NBC Montana:

“We're going to get people sick or just, no question about it, some people may die as a result of this action, let's be very clear about that,” Flowers said. “Now, I hope you're all prepared to take that on as responsibility when you vote on this. There are no safeguards with this. It’s inexcusable, it's an irresponsible act.”

Another Democrat lawmaker added this via Twitter:



By the way, earlier this week, we featured a great report by Dave Wooten out of Bozeman. Dave noted how COVID case numbers are much lower now than they were statewide last Fall. I would add that all of this is happening, despite the fact that Montanans continued to gather for Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations, and despite the fact that Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) lifted restrictions on bars and casinos.

As Wooten reported:

In Montana, new daily cases have been cut from our peak on November 20th of 1,237 cases a day to 490 on January 29, 2021. Again, all great news. But you have to look hard to find it because no one seems to want to report it. Yes, this could all change, but this is the data and how it's been tracking for the past three weeks and really since our peak in mid-November.

 

 

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