COVID-19 in Montana (Saturday, July 18)

GREAT FALLS – Health officials reported 106 new cases of COVID-19 in Montana on Saturday morning, according to the Montana Response COVID-19 Tracking Map.

Governor Steve Bullock announced Wednesday a statewide directive requiring masks / masks in Montana. The directive is effective immediately in counties that have four or more active COVID-19 cases. The directive requires that masks be worn in most indoor settings and where social distancing cannot be maintained. Bullock said companies will have the right to deny entry to anyone who does not wear a mask. Click here for details on the policy..

Note: The numbers reported by the state each day sometimes differ from those reported by county public health departments due to periodic delays in submitting data to the state. The numbers below are from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services on Saturday, July 18:

• TOTAL CASES AND RECOVERIES: Now there has been 2,471 cumulative cases statewide, and 1,075 people have recovered from the virus.
• HOSPITALIZATIONS Has been 164 hospitalizations for COVID-19 since the pandemic began; There are currently 46 hospitalized patients.

• ACTIVE CASES: The state reports that there is currently 1,359 active cases of COVID-19 in Montana.

• TESTS: The number of tests increased by 1,475 during the previous 24-hour reporting period, for a new cumulative statewide total of 131,879.

• DEAD: The cumulative number of deaths in Montana is now 37. On Thursday, Lewis and Clark County health officials reported their first COVID-19-related death. The second new death reported Friday is related to Canyon Creek Memory Care, a Billings senior care facility struggling with a deadly outbreak of the virus. Five other deaths have been reported this week in relation to Canyon Creek. There have been six deaths in Toole County, four in Yellowstone County, four in Big Horn County, two in Cascade County, and two in Flathead County. The other deaths have been reported in Gallatin, Lincoln, Madison, Ravalli, Missoula and Big Horn counties.

In Cascade County, there have been a total of 69 confirmed cases. Of these, 31 are currently active, 36 have recovered and two died. The City and County Health Department at Great Falls posted the following message on Friday:
To eliminate possible discrepancies, we will rely on the State’s case numbers going forward, which are published every morning. Several factors enter the number of COVID-19 total and active cases, including:

• The large increase in the volume of tests being conducted in Montana at state and commercial laboratories

• The equally drastic increase in the number of contact investigations being conducted in our county and across the state

• Discover in the course of contact investigations that a COVID case may need to be reassigned to another jurisdiction

• Number of people who are released from isolation and quarantine each day.
• Occasional delays in communication between the state, local health departments, and providers.

Given these factors and the workload of our contact investigators, we will reduce confusion by reporting case numbers in conjunction with the State. Although we have been posting our status updates every night, we will now post them in the morning.

The Benefis Health System said in an email Friday morning: “As we continue to see many new cases of COVID-19 across Montana, the demand for evidence has increased beyond capacity. State officials have reported Benefis that the state laboratory waiting period is now three to four weeks to obtain test results for asymptomatic patients, and the wait is even longer for larger laboratories outside Montana. Subsequently, state officials have ordered us to Let’s stop testing asymptomatic people right now and focus our testing only on those with symptoms. A significant change in testing is effective immediately. ” MTN News is trying to get more information on this, and if / how other evaluation agencies like Alluvion Health are following suit.

the Chouteau County Department of Health He said Friday: “There are three new positive cases of Covid 19 in Chouteau County that are unrelated to any of the previous episodes. The Health Department has notified everyone who needs to be quarantined. Please note and take all personal precautions to be maintained and your family is safe Social distance, wash your hands or use disinfectant, do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth, wear a mask where social distancing is not possible, stay away from large gatherings and disinfect High contact surfaces regularly. If you have no questions about the identity or location of these cases, please feel free to call the Health Department at 622-3771 Tuesday through Thursday from 8 to 5 “.

NEW CASES REPORTED ON JULY 18