Increasing number of COVID-19 cases among Montana residents and health workers | Coronavirus

MOntana counted 137 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths on Friday. Gallatin County added 10 cases.

A total of 561 cases in Gallatin County included 32 patients who were positive, but recovered, who were not residents of the county. According to the Gallatin City-County Health Department, the county has 121 active cases, two active hospitalizations and one death.

The two new COVID-19 deaths counted on Friday total 37. Governor Steve Block sent a news release that one of the dead was in Lewis and Clark County. The other is associated with an outbreak at Billings Canyon Creek Memory Care. So far, 10 inhabitants have died.

“It’s clear that the virus is extremely dangerous to old Montanance, and we need to continue fighting it to protect at-risk families and neighbors,” Brock said in a statement. ..

There are 45 patients hospitalized in Montana.

Public health officials say health care providers are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 because they are exposed to patients in need of long-term care, in the hospital, or in the hospital for treatment.

More than 35 staff at Canyon Creek Memory Care have tested positive.

The Montana Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday in a news release that Montana State Hospital employees tested positive for COVID-19. Warm Springs hospitals provide inpatient psychiatric care for adults experiencing severe mental illness.

According to the release, employees who tested positive did not provide direct care to the patient, but had limited contact with the patient and other staff. The person is believed to have been infected with the virus throughout his family and is quarantined.

Sheila Hogan, director of DPHHS, said the ministry is closely monitoring the situation and will work to prevent future expansion.

“We have been working hard over the past few months to implement additional infection control measures to protect the health and safety of patients and staff,” Hogan said.

According to the news release, the hospital participates in the state’s asymptomatic testing program, with 50% of staff and patients undergoing testing and all results returning negative.

However, Governor Steve Block announced this week that Quest Diagnostics, a private lab handling swabs taken during subclinical testing events, will not be able to take the new test for at least two weeks.

This week, Bozeman Health confirmed with Chronicle that 15 employees have been confirmed virus-positive since the beginning of the pandemic. Bozeman Health announced in March that the first employee was virus positive, but not others. Bozeman Health did not say when each of the 15 employees had a positive reaction in the last three months.

The healthcare system, which operates several clinics in Gallatin County and a hospital in Bozeman, did not identify the department or location where the employee worked. Bozeman Health also declined to disclose the status of employees, the number of people in close contact with confirmed cases, or whether other cases were associated with these employees.

Lauren Brendel, a spokesperson for Bozeman Health, said there was no evidence that employees were infected with the virus at work. Brendel has a strict protocol to protect staff and patients, including screening for symptoms and body temperature at all entrances, requiring a face mask, and self-monitoring of symptoms for employees twice a day. Said that there is.

Brendel said it was safe for people to receive care at Bozeman Health facilities. People with COVID-19 symptoms can go to the Bozeman Health Virus Triage Clinic in Belgrade, Big Sky and Bozeman.