The University of Montana's Curry Health Center reported Thursday afternoon that "the UM campus has been impacted by positive COVID-19 cases," according to a text sent via UM's alert system.
"The university will provide information on what our campus community members should expect in terms of information sharing around new positive cases," it said. "All updates will be posted on the University's COVID-19 website."
No information on the number of cases and when the cases were confirmed to be positive was provided in an emailed alert from the University of Montana. In a Thursday afternoon email to UM staff provided to the Missoulian, Curry Health Center Medical Director Jeff Adams said "Missoula has seen, over the past 24 hours, an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19, and this includes cases within our campus community."
"Through our proactive efforts regarding COVID-19, Curry is now able to perform rapid testing to identify positive cases, which greatly improves UM's ability to respond to COVID-19," Adams said in the email.
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The announcement comes on a day when Missoula County reported no new cases by local and state tallies reported Thursday morning. Cumulatively, Missoula has seen 151 positive cases, 148 identified by testing and three epi-linked — that is, linked to a confirmed case. On Thursday there were 44 active cases with more than 350 close contacts, all of whom are under quarantine.Â
Statewide, the cumulative case count reached 2,231 on Thursday, up 134 from a day earlier, marking the second highest daily new case count since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Montana. The active case count statewide is 1,226.
Campus leaders at the University of Montana and Montana State University said earlier this week they were tentatively optimistic their protocols were effective as student-athletes have begun to enter their respective workout facilities with screenings including temperature checks and recording any potential close contacts.
Earlier this month, the Montana University System health task force decided to recommend an explicit mask requirement on Montana campuses, a "launching point for a pivot to occur," said deputy commissioner for academic, research and student affairs Brock Tessman. Still, Montana State University Billings on Wednesday released its back-to-school plan without a mandate for students and staff to wear masks, although doing so would be "strongly encouraged,"Â the Billings Gazette reported.
On Wednesday, Gov. Steve Bullock announce a mandate that everyone over age 5 wear masks in certain indoor spaces and large outdoor gatherings, in counties with more than four active COVID-19 cases.
All Montana public universities have engineered plans for students to return to campus this fall.