The pandemic hit Montana hard.
No effective vaccine was in place. People ignored quarantine orders as state health officials pressured local authorities to close bars, churches, schools and other places where crowds normally gathered.
Doctors and nurses were in short supply and exhausted by the caseload. Some Montana counties had no medical personnel at all. One city required some public workers to wear face masks, but made it optional after receiving complaints that the masks were causing headaches and eyestrain.
No one was immune as even the lieutenant governor became ill. Native American populations were hit hard.
Although this may sound familiar, this is not from 2020, nor 2019.