COVID-19 Cases continue to be confirmed in Beaverhead County
Beaverhead County Public Health is investigating 6 new cases since Friday, July 17.
Three new cases on Monday, July 20th are presumptive positives which have been sent to the state lab to be tested. They are considered positive unless the state lab confirms a negative result.
Four of the previously active cases are off isolation July 20. This leaves Beaverhead County with 5 currently active cases.
A case that was diagnosed late in the course of the disease is off isolation. The male in his 20s was on isolation after coming in contact with a positive case. Because of the lateness of the test result, he fell within the criteria to discontinue isolation even though the test result was received on Friday, July 17.
This brings Beaverhead County’s total COVID-19 case count to 12 as of July 20, 2020.
Remember that the COVID map on the state website is only updated every morning at 10am and will not have the most current information on it. Positive cases can be called to public health anytime of the day.
The new cases include one female in her 50’s who is symptomatic. No source of infection can be determined at this time.
A second case is a male in his 20’s who was symptomatic and had an exposure to a positive case.
The third case is a male in his 80’s who is symptomatic and a contact to a positive case.
The fourth and fifth case is a woman in her 60’s and a man in his 80’s. Investigation is pending for their contacts.
As public health becomes busier with contact investigation, it will take longer to identify and investigate contacts. We ask for the public’s patience while we work on cases and contacts. A close contact is considered someone who is within 6 feet for at least 15 minutes with a positive case. There may be times that the case does not remember all close contacts so if you feel you were a close contact and have not been called by public health after a couple of days, please call the health department at 683-4771. Please do not seek immediate testing at the hospital. The proper procedure for testing is a request to your health care provider or public health for a test. We do ask that if you have no symptoms or mild symptoms, that you wait until after the weekend to request a test. No courier is available on the weekend to take tests to the state lab. However, if you are experiencing severe illness, please seek care at the hospital immediately.
It is important that you remain quarantined from the community for 14 days from last exposure to the positive case. Please do not wait for a test result as you could be exposing others.
For people who received the community drive-through COVID testing on July 10th, assume your test result is negative. Public health will contact you if your test is positive. Please do not call the health department for results.
Beaverhead County Public Health is asking everyone to please do their part in keeping themselves and others in our community safe. The mask mandate is in effect for counties with 4 or more active cases. These places include but are not limited to: retail stores, grocery stores, food and beverage establishments, public lodging, personal care providers, medical providers, pharmacies, gyms, pools, fitness services, museums and theaters, indoor recreational or entertainment facilities, gas stations, repair and service providers, non-profit organizations, realty services, legal services transportation services, and ride sharing services. Government agencies also fall within the mandate. Businesses and other persons who are responsible for indoor spaces open to the public, or sponsors of organized outdoor activities are responsible for monitoring mask use. There are exceptions under the Directive for mask use and individuals are asked to read the Governor’s Executive Orders 2-2020 and 3-2020 found at the following site. https://covid19.mt.gov/joint-information-center
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