Four New COVID-19 Cases Reported In Last Week In Roosevelt County
Late last week, Roosevelt County recorded four new positive cases of COVID-19. The fourth case was a female aged 50-59 and was reported on Wednesday, April 15. The fifth and sixth cases were reported Thursday, April 16, and were a female aged 20-29 and a female aged 60-69. The seventh case, a male aged 70-79, was reported Monday, April 20.
The case investigation is ongoing for the recent cases, according to Patty Presser at the Roosevelt County Health Department. In accordance with federal law, the department will not release any other identifying information about the cases to protect the individuals’ personal privacy, Presser said.
“All of the preventative measures put in place over the past weeks take on new importance now that we know COVID019 is in our community,” said Presser. “It is extremely important for all Roosevelt County residents to follow recommendations from the health department and the governor to stay home as much as possible and avoid contact with others outside of the home, especially if you are not feeling well. This includes non-essential travel outside of Roosevelt County.”
Travel outside of Montana is the #1 source of transmission for the COVID-19 cases in Montana, according to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.
One Roosevelt County COVID-19 case has recovered.
For up-to-date information on COVID-19, go to dphhs.mt.gov. For further questions, call Roosevelt County Health Department at 653-6223.
Valley County
The Valley County Commissioners issued an apology Wednesday, April 15, and gave further clarification regarding the current health orders and obligations that apply to visitors from outside Valley County.
Earlier, a notice had been sent to Valley County businesses directing them to refuse in-store service to out-of-county residents and provided a script of what to tell would-be shoppers, including a directive to call law enforcement if needed.
Wednesday’s notice, which was signed by commissioners Paul Tweten, John Fahlgren and Mary Armstrong, stated, “In response to significant public concern regarding out of county contractors who are present in our communities for essential work purposes, one of the companies partnered with the [Valley] County Health Officer to wear pink wrist bands following their 14-day quarantine. This was implemented to help alleviate community concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19. These bands are not government issued and are not a part of any of the current health orders in place. Rather, they are a good faith effort by these contractors to try to put the community at ease.
“In a break-down of our internal processes, a flier went out to local business owners seemingly indicating such wrist bands are required for out-of-county individuals and that local business owners were obligated to report violations of the health orders. That is not the intent of Valley County and that flier has been rescinded.”
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
At presstime, there were 437 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Montana with 273 of those cases listed as recovered. There have been 59 total hospitalizations, with 14 hospitalizations listed as active. Twelve people have died from the virus. Most are treating their symptoms at home. As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 21, a total of 11,241 tests had been completed.
Williams County in North Dakota has reported nine cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday morning, April 21. Mountrail County has reported 31 cases. Ward County has 20 reported cases. At presstime, there have been 644 cases reported in North Dakota, with 214 individuals listed as recovered. Fifty-four have required hospitalization with 17 currently hospitalized. Thirteen deaths have been reported in North Dakota.
Social Distancing
With exceptions outlined in the Governor’s March 28 directive, all individuals currently living within the State of Montana are directed to stay at home or at their place of residence to the greatest extent possible. Homes or residences include hotels, motels, shared rental units, shelters, and similar facilities.
In addition, the governor, on March 30, set in place a directive stating, “All travelers, including Montanans, arriving in Montana from another state or country for a non-work-related purpose must immediately self-quarantine for 14 days or for the duration of the person’s presence in Montana, whichever is shorter.” You may read the entire directives at www. mt.gov under “news releases.”
IHS To Implement Rapid Point-Of-Care Test Systems As part of White House efforts to expand access to testing in rural communities, Indian Health Service has been given priority access to rapid point-of-care COVID-19 test systems. The IHS has received 250 ID NOW COVID-19 rapid pointof- care test systems. The systems allows for medical diagnostic testing at the time and place of patient care and provides COVID-19 results in under 13 minutes. This expands the capacity for coronavirus testing for individuals exhibiting symptoms as well as for healthcare professionals and the first responder community. Additionally, this will save Personal Protective Equipment and ensure critical members of the workforce are safe and able to support the response. The only PPE required to administer the point-of-care tests are gloves and a face mask. According to a spreadsheet provided by IHS, Wolf Point’s 6th Ave North clinic will be receiving two analyzers.
Town Pump Monies Reach Area Food Banks
Following Town Pump’s recent announcement of a $1 million donation to food banks in the state, the organization confirms that $15,000 has been donated to the Wolf Point Food Pantry and $5,000 has been sent to the County Cupboard in Culbertson. The latter organization will be open for their first grocery distribution Tuesday, April 28, from 3 to 5 p.m. outside the county building in Culbertson. For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page. To reach the Wolf Point Food Pantry, call 653-2145 or check the organization’s Facebook page. They are located at 502 Main St. in Wolf Point.
