COVID-19 Vaccinations Underway Across Couny

The COVID-19 Task Force plans to meet next on Monday, Feb. 22. This united effort between Roosevelt Medical Center, Northeast Montana Health Services, Indian Health Services, Fort Peck Tribes and Roosevelt County seeks to mitigate the ongoing effects of the pandemic in Roosevelt County and the Fort Peck Reservation. All partners continue to assist residents with COVID-19 testing and infections, case identification/ investigation and contact tracing. All partners are also currently working toward providing COVID vaccine to community members.

Indian Health Service has received notice that allocations of vaccine will be larger in the near future. Beneficiaries are encouraged to take advantage of the weekly vaccine clinics advertised on the radio and on Facebook.

Roosevelt County Health Department is conducting COVID vaccine clinics every week or two weeks depending on quantities of vaccine sent from the Montana Department of Health and Human Services Immunization Program.

Call 653-6223 or 653-6124 or go to the Roosevelt County Health Department Facebook page to sign up for a place on their COVID vaccination list. Phase 1B residents are currently getting appointment times to receive the vaccine. To date, clinics have been held in Wolf Point, Culbertson and Poplar. In Phase 1B, COVID-19 vaccines are available to Montanans 70 years of age and older, 16 to 69 years of age with a highrisk medical condition, and Native Americans and other persons of color who may be at elevated risk for COVID-19 complications.

It is important for the public to understand the hard work involved in setting up and conducting vaccination events. Employees must set aside usual duties to mobilize themselves and all the supplies needed to conduct an off-site medical clinic. Tremendous amounts of planning and expertise are required to serve the public efficiently. Roosevelt County and Fort Peck residents are fortunate to have dedicated people working hard to bring them the COVID vaccine.

One bright bit of information came last week when the Centers for Disease Control released guidance saying that people who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated against the disease within the last three months and show no symptoms.

The Montana statewide mandate for mask-wearing in indoor spaces expired last week. Local jurisdictions may still choose to implement their own mask requirements. A Roosevelt County Board of Health Meeting took place on Tuesday, Feb. 16, to look at the issue as it relates to businesses and schools.

As the COVID pandemic continues to affect us here in Northeast Montana, response from the entire community is necessary to minimize illness and disruption to our lives. Proven methods of disease prevention are still the cornerstone: mask to protect others and yourselves, keep your distance, practice good hygiene and isolate and quarantine when asked.

If you have questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine, please email: covid19taskforce@ rooseveltcounty.org.

Area Statistics

RooseveltCountyCOVID-19 situation report for the week includes: one new case and 48 active cases on Feb. 7, one new case and 50 new cases on Feb. 8, two new cases and 17 active cases on Feb. 9, six new cases and 19 active cases on Feb. 10, five new cases and 21 active cases for Feb. 11, two new cases and 24 active cases for Feb. 12, and two new cases and 23 active cases for Feb. 13. There have been 53 COVID-related deaths in the county.

As of Thursday, Feb. 11, Valley County’s active count was 29. There have been 763 recovered cases. Daniels County had zero active cases as of Tuesday, Feb. 16. The county has 185 recovered cases and 192 cumulative cases. Seven deaths have occurred due to COVID-19 and/or complications. There are no cases currently hospitalized.

For Richland County, there are 23 active cases and 1,124 recovered cases as of Monday, Feb. 15. Total deaths are 15. There are 50-plus contacts being monitored.

Statewide

According to Montana health officials, the state’s total number of known cases now stands at 97,539 since the start of the pandemic. There have been 1,023,984 tests conducted.

Around the state, there are 2,735 active cases. There are 92 active hospitalizations.

By Tuesday, Feb. 16, a total of 1,328 deaths have been reported statewide. A total of 93,476 people are listed as recovered.

Several health mandates for Montana put into effect by former Gov. Steve Bullock were removed by new Gov. Greg Gianforte Jan. 15: Restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries and casinos no longer have to close at 10 p.m. Gianforte encourages businesses to follow public health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, but the governor removed capacity limits for businesses.

Gianforte issued two new directives and an executive order on Friday, Feb. 12. The first directive rescinds and replaces all prior directives implementing Executive Order 2-2021, which the governor issued on Jan. 13.

Consistent with the governor’s announcement on Wednesday, Feb. 10, the new directive allows the statewide mask mandate to expire. Local jurisdictions may still choose to implement their own mask requirements.

Gianforte emphasized how providing incentives and encouraging personal responsibility are more effective than imposing unenforceable government mandates.

On Feb. 10, Gianforte signed S.B. 65 into law which provides a liability shield to businesses, nonprofits, and others who protect their workers, their customers, and their clients from the spread of COVID-19.

In keeping with Gianforte’s Jan. 13 directive which removed restrictions on hours of service and capacity for businesses, the latest directive continues to encourage businesses to adopt industry best practices or public health guidance to protect their employees and customers. The directive also continues to promote the use of telehealth services, protect vulnerable Montanans from eviction or foreclosure, ease of licensing for health care professionals and a reduction in regulatory burdens.

The second directive repeals a directive dated Aug. 6, 2020. The governor also issued Executive Order 3-2021 which rescinds Executive Order 15-2018. “Our Constitution makes it plain as day: the Legislature makes our laws, not the governor and not the courts,” Gianforte said. “It’s the responsibility of our Legislature to determine how Montana’s elections are conducted, and it’s the responsibility of our Legislature to determine whether an individual must disclose donations to a nonprofit group.”

Flu Shots

Area health officials are stressing that flu shots are more important this year than ever because the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to keep the community safe, health officials offer advice and information on these two infections are related.

COVID-19 and the flu are each highly contagious respiratory infections, but have some key differences. They are caused by different viruses. COVID-19 is more infectious, and there is a vaccine to prevent the flu. There are some symptom similarities between the two, which may make it difficult to determine which illness you have if you are experiencing symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, difficulty breathing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. Flu can be a more mild illness than COVID-19, and COVID-19 symptoms also can include loss of taste or smell. It may be necessary to receive testing to determine which illness you are experiencing.

To get a flu shot, make an appointment with the Roosevelt County Health Department or make an appointment with your primary care provider.

Flu shots are available at the following locations: Roosevelt County Health Department, Chief Redstone IHS Clinic in Wolf Point, Verne E. Gibbs IHS Clinic in Poplar, Listerud Rural Health Clinic in Wolf Point, Riverside Clinic in Poplar and Roosevelt Medical Clinic in Culbertson.

Vaccines are covered by health insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. If you don’t have health insurance, call the health department for assistance at 653-6223.

Vaccine Info

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services’ dashboard features county by county breakdown as far as vaccination numbers.

In Roosevelt County, 1,482 total doses have been administered. There have been 374 fully immunizations.

As of Monday, Feb. 15, 184,483 total doses have been administered in Montana. There are 53,482 fully immunized Montanans. The map features such information as total doses administered, number of first doses administered, number of people fully immunized, doses administered per 1,000 people and eligible population to be vaccinated.

The dashboard can be found at https://www.arcgis. com/apps/MapSeries/ index.html?appid=7c-34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b.