Fort Belknap holding COVID-19 surveillance testing

Fort Belknap Indian Community has invited everyone from Blaine County and surrounding communities to come participate in free COVID-19 testing this week.

Fort Belknap Tribal Health Department, in cooperation with the governor’s office, the Montana National Guard and the Blaine County Health Department is offering the drive-through and walk-through testing Thursday and Friday, Tribal Health said in a post on its Facebook page.

The testing comes as confirmations of COVID-19 is surging in the state, with 109 new cases confirmed Monday with a total of 1,952 in Montana.

Hill County has seen a surge, with 13 new cases from July 4 through Sunday, mostly identified through contact tracing after the July 4 confirmation. They are the first confirmations since Hill County’s first confirmed case in March, bringing the total for the county to 14 cases.

Liberty County had one case confirmed in March and Blaine and Chouteau counties have no confirmed cases as of Monday.

The Tribal Health post says no identification is required: “Questionnaire, swab and go,” it says.

The post says testing is free and available to all including people with no symptoms, and tribal and non-tribal members can be tested.

The testing will be available Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Horse Capture Park at the Fort Belknap Agency and the St. Paul Mission at Hays, and at the agency only Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The post says people with questions can call Fort Belknap Public Health Nursing at 353-3250 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or the Disaster and Emergency Services Hotline at 353-8469 from 5-10 p.m.