Montana posts 214 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, several in region

The state posted 214 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 early Wednesday, with several reports surfacing in northcentral and northeastern Montana and total hospitalizations passing the 600 mark.

The state now has 10,912 confirmations of the respiratory illness and is poised to pass 11,000 cases within the next day or two, given the recent pace of reports.

Of those, 8,510 people have recovered, 2,237 remain active and 165 people have died, which is two more than reported Tuesday. There are 124 people hospitalized out of 601 total hospitalizations, according to the state website covid19.mt.gov.

RiverStone Health, Yellowstone County’s public health department, said a woman in her 60s died Sept. 22 at a Yellowstone County hospital. Information on the other death was not immediately available.

There have been 317,160 tests administered, which is 3,151 more than Tuesday.

In the region, Cascade County reported 19 new cases, Roosevelt had 14, Hill and Lewis and Clark both had nine, Chouteau had seven, Blaine had four, Fergus had three and Glacier had two.

Daniels, Dawson, Phillips and Teton each had one.

A Sept. 18 state analysis noted that people between 20‐29 years of age account for 23% of COVID‐19 cases in Montana. The next most common age group is 30‐39 (17%), followed by 40‐49 (13%) and 50‐59 (12%). The median age for all cases is 37. It found that 50% of cases are between 24‐55 years of age. 

The cases are evenly distributed between men and women.

The study found that 5% of Montana’s COVID-19 cases have been reported in Cascade County. It ranked third,  with 7%, for cases occurring in a congregant setting, which occurs where many people live or gather in close proximity. As of Sept. 18, 1,051 cases were tied to such settings and 48 people have died.

The study also noted that clusters, in which cases are part of a known group, contribute to nearly two-thirds of new cases in Cascade County.

The analysis stated that 73% of the cases it reviewed involved people who were white, 24% were American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. It noted that Native Americans make up about 7% of Montana’s population.

The people who died were between 30 and 97, with a median age of 77. Of those, 54% were male. When race was known, 80 (63%) of them identified as white and 47 (37%) as Native American.

At the time of the analysis, 569 people had been hospitalized with a median age of 64 and half of them are between 51 and 75. Those who did not require hospitalization have a median age of 35, and half of patients are between 23 and 53 years old.

It noted that 10% of Native Americans and 10% of Blacks required hospitalization versus 6% of those who identify as white.

Of all COVID-19 tests done in Montana, most were in Yellowstone County (17%), followed by 9% each in Cascade, Gallatin, Missoula and Flathead counties, the report stated.

Glacier and Toole counties were among those with the highest testing rates. Glacier had 828 tests for every 1,000 people and Toole had 440. The state average was 280, the analysis said.

Blaine County now has six active cases and 15 recoveries and Cascade County now has 232 active cases, 287 recoveries and five deaths, Chouteau has 11 active cases and 15 recoveries and Daniels has one active case and four recoveries. Dawson has 14 active cases, 15 recoveries and one death.

Fergus County has eight active cases, 51 recoveries and one death. Hill County has 31 active cases, 106 recoveries and three deaths. Lewis and Clark has 36 active cases, 196 recoveries and three deaths. Phillips County has three active cases and 116 recoveries. Roosevelt has 150 active cases, 62 recoveries and one death and Toole County has six active cases, 57 recoveries and six deaths. 

Cascade County posted a record number of new reports on Tuesday by listing 59. Cascade City-County Health Department officials said not all of the cases occurred in one day. They noted that sometimes investigations into reports take more than one day and there can be a lag putting the information into the state’s data base.

They did say, however, that nearly one-third of the new cases are associated with the Cascade County Detention Center and some with the schools. They also noted Labor Day was two weeks ago, so some of the cases may be surfacing from the holiday weekend.

Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said Tuesday night there were 68 active cases at the jail, which also serves as a regional prison. He said 41 of those are in the county jail and 27 are in the state prison. He said 103 inmates have recovered.

Slaughter said there are 17 detention officers who have tested positive and 15 have recovered and are back at work.

"Our staff continues to work long hours to fight the virus and keep both our community and the inmates safe," he wrote in an email. "They are true heroes."

Gov. Steve Bullock held a news conference Tuesday to discuss the recent increases in daily cases statewide. He said the cases posted in the past week, which were three days of new daily highs, were concerning to him. He said the White House coronavirus task force has recommended states issue fines for not wearing masks in areas of high transmission.

Montana has been under a mask mandate in counties of four or more active cases, meaning as of Tuesday 29 of the state's 56 counties qualify. However, the mandate focuses on education and reserves fines for the most "egregious" cases.

"We do things the Montana way here," he said, adding fines would not be encouraged, but said people should urge others to wear a mask.

Dr. Greg Holzman, the state's medical officer, said the virus does not have a political affiliation.

"For all that is going around, political spin will not stop the coronavirus," he said. "We need to continue to work together to decrease the diseases in our community. When disease rates rise we see more suffering. We see more death."

He noted the number of deaths in the state, 165, have surpassed the number of traffic fatalities so far for the year in Montana, which was 143 as of Monday.

Bullock on Wednesday announced $4.2 million more has been awarded through the Montana Meat Processing Infrastructure Grant program to help 40 small and medium-sized meat processors in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. 

The grant program previously awarded $7.5 million to 62 processors throughout Montana in early August, making the total awards for meat processing nearly $12 million, the governor's staff said.

Businesses are using the grants to buy equipment to immediately increase their storage and processing capacity, the governor noted in a news release. Many are modifying their facilities to include slaughter floors and other business adaptations that give producers the option to sell their meat locally rather than shipping them out of state.

Funding is from the state’s allocation of federal relief dollars made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, with a maximum award of $150,000.

Reporter Phil Drake is our eye on the state capitol. For tips, suggestions or comment, he can be reached at 406-231-9021 or pdrake@greatfallstribune.com. To support his work, subscribe today and get a special offer.