Health Department inspecting businesses for COVID-19 compliance

Hill County Sanitarian-in-Training Will Lorett said his department has been inspecting local businesses for compliance with Gov. Steve Bullock’s public health mandates.

So far, 12 businesses have been inspected, some of which the department received complaints about, some of which were random inspections, Lorett said Friday during the Hill County Board of Health COVID-19 update meeting.

He said two of these businesses were found to be non-compliant but both became compliant upon a follow-up visit by the department.

He said the department has put a three-strike system in place for enforcement.

First, Lorett said, the department gives them an info packet laying out what needs to be done if they are not compliant.

Two days later the department will follow-up and if they are compliant that’s where it ends.

If after that visit, if a business is still non-compliant, they will be scheduled for another follow-up two days later.

If they are still non-compliant at that point, Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Larson will write a health order to shut the business down.

After that, Lorett said, the business can then come up with a re-opening plan to be approved by Larson, after which they can re-open.

Lorett was not available this morning to give specific information about the inspections.

Larson said this kind of thing is not new at all, and similar policies are in place regarding health code violations for restaurants.

“This is not a new process,” she said, “we’re just taking the old process and applying it to COVID-19.”

Larson said this morning that the sanitarians have been running inspections based on complaints since the beginning of the COVID-19 restrictions as part of their regular day-to-day jobs.

She said they are utilizing the same process used for licensed establishments in order to ensure they are in compliance with all public health laws to keep the patrons of that establishment safe.

The department receives complaints directly from community members, she said, as well as from the state’s database which compiles the complaints sent to them.

Larson provided information Friday on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent updates to the quarantine process for close contacts of COVID-19 cases.

She said if someone is a close contact with no symptoms and they receive a negative test within 48 hours of day 7 after potential exposure they are only quarantined for seven more days.

If someone is a contact and refuses the test they’re quarantined for 10 days.

If they’re symptomatic or a household contact of a case they are quarantined for 14 days.

She said these changes are based on new research, and the department has 143 people in quarantine.

Larson said she’s putting together a document for further clarity on the issue, and will get it out to the public as soon as possible.

She also provided some information on the Pfizer vaccine allocation soon coming to Montana, which she said is scheduled to arrive the week of Dec. 13.

She said the first shipment will be just fewer than 10,000 doses, and Moderna’s vaccine will be coming around Dec. 22 with 20,000 doses.

Larson said the state has estimated that, by the end of the year, the state is expecting 60,000 first doses of the two-dose vaccines.

“That’s very promising,” she said.

She said the first round of the vaccine will go to front-line health care workers and long term care facility staff and residents and Havre has been approved as a site for distribution.

Larson said the second dose of the vaccine is not included in this initial shipment and will come separately.

She said no influenza cases have been confirmed in the county as far as she’s been made aware.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said the next COVID-19 update will be Friday at 1 p.m.