COVID-19 Cases Continue To Be Reported
Roosevelt County Adds One Confirmed Case
According to Montana health officials, 626 COVID-19 cases in the state were reported between July 7 and July 13. This bumped the state’s total number of known cases to 1,952. Around the state, 1,034 people are known to be currently infected and 29 are hospitalized. A total of 884 people are listed as recovered. At press time, there have been 34 deaths.
There have been 121,396 tests conducted statewide since the start of the pandemic. The 1,952 known cases results in an overall 1.6 percent positive test result rate.
Daily data is not tracked on the Montana State COVID-10 Response website. However, stats for Tuesday, July 14, showed a total of 2,701 tests being reported with only 109 being positive, for a 4 percent positive test rate.
On Monday, July 13, the State of Montana reported a total of 10 cases of COVID-19 for Roosevelt County. However, the Roosevelt County Health Department said that there were only eight confirmed cases at that time. These eight include the seven earlier cases that have all been marked as recovered.
The newly confirmed case was exposed outside the county, said Roosevelt County Health Department staff. The person was tested for COVID-19 because they had contact with a confirmed case elsewhere and had been isolating since returning to Roosevelt County.
By presstime Tuesday, July 14, the State of Montana had reduced Roosevelt County’s case count to nine. One of the new cases the state reported on Monday actually resides in Sheridan County and has now been attributed to that county in the state’s counts.
The final case reported by the state is not yet actually confirmed as positive. According to the Roosevelt County Health Department, that person was initially identified through surveillance testing as positive, but asymptomatic. Asymptomatic persons have no symptoms to suggest they might have the virus. Surveillance testing is not 100 percent accurate, so additional testing is required for confirmation. A quick test was returned as negative, and the county is awaiting the official test results from the state. That person is isolating at home as a safety precaution.
Testing is currently taking over 14 days for official results from the state, so the new cases were exposed several weeks ago.
The Fort Peck Tribes have reverted to Phase 2, and the reservation- wide curfew has reverted to a start time of 12:30 a.m.
The Valley County Commissioners have voted to cancel the Northeast Montana Fair Rodeo and Demolition Derby. The Northeast Montana Fair Concert partners have also officially canceled the Diamond Rio concert planned for the fair.
Governor Steve Bullock announced the following July 10: “The new daily highs we’re seeing in COVID-19 cases concern me deeply. Active contact tracing, testing, and adequate hospital capacity and supplies allow us to manage the virus at its current level in Montana – but if this trend in new cases continues, I will seriously consider reimplementing some public health restrictions. We need to have a healthy workforce and a public that feels safe for the economy to do well and for a successful reopening. Montanans need to avoid large gatherings and wear a mask while in public. Many of these cases are preventable if this guidance is followed. I know Montanans are tired of four months of COVID-19, but we can’t let that fatigue allow us to let our guard down.”
Nationally, as of presstime, there were a total of 3,355,457 positive cases reported and 135,235 deaths, which equals a 4 percent fatality rate. The death rate is 11.1 deaths per 100,000. As of presstime, there were 1,023.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 people in the U.S.
