State Explains Disparities In COVID-19 Reporting

For those individuals who get frustrated when seeing the large difference that the county and state reports for active COVID cases, the data information is expected to be more reliable in the near future.

Jon Ebelt, public information officer for Montana’s Department of Health and Human Services, says the state is working on a new system to streamline the data.

“We’re trying to catch up,” Ebelt said. “In any situation, the county will have the more correct number.”

Last week’s data had a large difference for some northeastern counties. For example, the state had Roosevelt County with 510 active cases while the county health department listed less than 100 cases. In Richland County, the state’s figure was 225 active cases compared to the county’s number of 131.

“The goal is to have a centralized system,” Ebelt said. “This is an unprecedented workload. It’s tough to keep up at both the county and state levels.”

He agreed that some of the differences between state and county figures were extreme.

“It’s just a matter of catching up to the numbers,” Ebelt said. “It’s been a challenge.”

He expects figures for some counties to see a bump up and some to see a decrease during this streamlining process. He said the incorrect figures have not been done intentionally.

Ebelt said when Gov. Steve Bullock announced expansion of the mask mandate statewide last week that it wasn’t based on figures on the DPHHS’ map. Beginning Friday, Nov. 20, people must wear masks in public. Restaurants, bars, casinos and breweries will be limited to 50 percent capacity and must close by 10 p.m. Gatherings can’t exceed 25 people if social distancing isn’t possible.

Ebelt noted that the governor keeps in contact with county health departments and other health experts.

Instead of looking at the most current active cases, people should be more concerned with hospitalizations and how few hospital beds are available.

“That’s a true indicator of what’s going on,” Ebelt said.