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Cuir de Eleni, Idaho – The congregation of the Candlelight Christian Fellowship, gathered around tables in the church sanctuary one night last week, to mute coffee and quarrel with theological questions. Dozens of children from the hall downstairs played in the playground.
With a potluck dinner, no masks and plenty of shared hugs, with the notable exception of being on stage at night, felt like a throwback to the pre-epidemic era: the archbishop, Paul Van Noy, was addressing the congregation with assistance. Complementary oxygen oxygen, pipe into his nostrils from a small tank.
About a month ago, Mr. Van Nyoy, 60, was discharged from a wheelchair hospital after a coronavirus infection brought him to the brink of death. But while that fear has devastated his lungs and rocked the church, little has been done to change the growing sentiment among many in northern Idaho that coronavirus cannot be stopped and that efforts to eradicate it do more harm than good.
“I think we open up and we let it go,” said Nancy Hilberg, 68, as church members mingled after the service. “Just let it happen.”
Between the last days of the presidential election and the record-breaking growth in the last days of the presidential election, President Trump and his administration have expressed growing frustration at having the virus, rather than focusing on improving viability and trying to keep the economy together. While it is a theme welcomed by many of the president’s supporters, it has proved to be a concern for health officials, including those caring for the hospital’s vanity, who are facing growing resistance to their calls for unity to fight the epidemic. Already some 230,000 Americans have sued and many are threatening to take more.
In northern Idaho, which is facing record cases and hospital admissions, the local health board last month revoked the requirement for people to wear masks in Kutenai County, where the Candlelight Christian Fellowship is.
Board member Walt Kirby said in a public hearing on the issue: “I don’t care if anyone wears a mask. “If they want to be dumb enough to get out there and expose themselves and others to it, that’s fine with me.
“I sit back and catch him and die. Hopefully I will live through it. ”
In a later interview, Mr. Kirby said he initially supported the mask command as a strategy to contain the virus and that he wears it whenever he goes out in public at age 90.
But the need for a mask resulted in a drastic reversal, he said, in a part of the country where many people migrated to escape what they see as a domineering government.
Governors across the country, particularly Republicans, are following the president’s lead in resisting new sanctions against the virus, which continues to be powerful despite locks in some areas during the spring and summer.
“There’s no way to stop the virus,” wrote South Dakota Gov. Christy Noime, while North Dakota Governor Doug Bergum said, “When it comes to saving lives, it’s not a government job, it’s a job. All in Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee told residents.” “At the end of the day, personal responsibility is the only way out,” said Alaska Governor Mike Dunlevy in an interview, adding that the growing number of cases this fall should not be hidden from the public.
“It’s like you’re going to hit with a meteor,” Mr. Dunlevy said. “The point is, people just say, ‘I still have to live. I still have work to do. I still have to keep in touch with my family. ”
As the weather cools and people move their lives indoors, the virus has begun to swell across the country, crossing peaks months ago. On Friday, the nation recorded a record 98,000 infections in a single day. There has also been a slight increase in deaths.
Despite the vague trends, Mr. Trump has warned against lockdown sanctions and tried to convey the message that the country has been “round the corner” – the country’s infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony S. Conflict claims with Fawcett say more caution is needed, not less, and people should not expect to return to normalcy for another year. Mr. Trump suggested Sunday night that he could fire Dr. Fawcett after the election.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows last month set the tone for many ready to throw towels over the pure content of the virus, calling for a focus on treatments and vaccines because “we’re not going to control it. Nationwide epidemic. “
Hospital and government officials have seen signs of epidemic fatigue, children are looking to resume sports league activities, friends are celebrating birthdays and families are planning to reunite – perhaps for the upcoming holidays. Gallup traces Americans’ social distance habits and sees a slide in the number of people practicing social distance, from 5 percent in April to 6 percent in September.
In Idaho, where many residents value self-sufficiency, resistance to coronavirus mandates came to the surface at the beginning of the epidemic. In the last week, hot spots have developed across the state, registering an average of 900 new cases every day, three times more than the number seen just six weeks ago.
In the eastern part of the state, the Rexburg metro area has the highest number of new cases per capita in the country. In the north, Kutenai Health Hospital warns that the facility could exceed capacity and force patients to be sent to Seattle or Portland, Ore – two areas where restrictions are in place and the virus is under more control.
In Boise, an outbreak at the Idaho State Veterans Home resulted in 26 active cases and two recent deaths among residents, along with 16 employees who tested positive.
Governav. Brad Little has reinstated restrictions on large gatherings but some fellow Republicans have been hit and resisted the mask order. Last week, Lieutenant Governance. Janice McGichin joined a group of legislators posting a video demanding an end to state and local emergency orders, vowing to ignore them in the future. In the video, Mrs. McGuinness puts a gun to a Bible.
The fact that an epidemic may or may not occur about the meaning and purpose of the state constitution in the maintenance of our inalienable rights, political leaders said in the video and accompanying letter.
In Twin Falls, where an increase in coronavirus patients has forced St. Lucas Magic Valley Medical Center to redirect pediatric patients elsewhere and cancel alternative surgeries, Dr. Adam Dum Robisen said he wants to try to control the virus through a political lens. Don’t come .
“We’re on the verge of having no space anymore,” he said. “I’m getting very, very nervous right now.”
Mr. Van Nyoy, pastor of Kouyur de Le Lane, who spent 18 days in a critical care unit, expressed doubts about the mask before he became ill, did not need it in church, and vowed to personally reject any order canceling services. Was. . But he said that when doctors gave him a chance to survive 20 percent at one stage because of his illness, he saw other people in the congregation who had only minor infections. So while he wanted people to be wary of spreading the virus, he said he was skeptical of the government’s efforts to eradicate it.
“I’m not sure all of our efforts have had much impact on the spread or lack thereof,” Mr. Van Noy said. “I think we have done a lot of damage to our economy, to the psyche of the people. I mean, we’ll see frustration. We see all sorts of issues that are developing because people have a sense of hopelessness. “
Mr. Van Noy wore a pro-Trump mask to the polls when he went to the polls recently. As he arrived, he said, a polling worker told him he could not wear a mask because it was tantamount to an invalid ballot paper.
Mr. Van Noy removed the mask, and went inside to cast his vote without one.
