Dear Editor:

Regarding COVID, it’s very important that both perspective and accuracy be included in reporting, otherwise people will unnecessarily be frightened and as a result bad policy will be accepted. We need the media to do a deeper, better job. With all due respect, your recent coverage, including multiple articles on Nov. 17, has fallen short in that regard.

As of Tuesday, you state that eight people in Park County were hospitalized with COVID (six in Cody, two in Powell). We know that six of the eight ICU beds in Cody and Powell are available (we don’t know that the two in use are for COVID patients). We also know that 13 of 18 ventilators are available. None of this suggests anything close to a looming crisis.

Hospitals are built to treat ill people, not to stand empty. I’ve very much respected Dr. Aaron Billin’s leadership up to this point; I do not understand his sudden shift in calling for a mask mandate when the vast body of scientific study prior to 2020 has shown the ineffective and in fact at times deleterious effects of mask wearing.

While I understand resources are thin, for something so important it would be good for someone to ask him about these numbers, otherwise we sow fear in people that leads to acceptance of bad public policy.

Wyoming is the great state it is because of its independence, common sense and people taking care of each other. Not cowering to fear, particularly that’s not borne out by science and facts.

Thank you,

Ken Montgomery

Clark