COVID-19 spread continues to drop in Hill County

Hill County Health Director and Health Officer Kim Larson said Friday that the county’s drop in COVID-19 spread is continuing as plans are made for the rollout of vaccines.

Larson said, during the Hill County Board of Health’s weekly update, only 522 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded that day in Montana, significantly lower than just a few weeks ago. She said this is definitely a good sign.

Hill County, as of last Thursday at 10 p.m., had 72 active cases of COVID-19, and the health department is following 79 people who are in quarantine, she said, a drop of about 30 people from the previous week.

The health department update Sunday reported 82 active cases. Quarantines are not listed.

Larson said Friday that the county’s rate of spread is down to 60 new cases per day per 100,000 residents, less than half of what it was at this third wave’s peak.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” she said.

She said people in the county need to limit their gatherings, keep their circle of contacts small, socially distance and wear masks so these positive trends continue.

Larson reminded people that Gov. Steve Bullock’s directives are still in place, and people need to keep doing their part to slow the spread of COVID-19 even further, especially during the rest of this holiday season.

“Do what we did over Thanksgiving and we will fare well,” she said.

Larson also talked Friday about the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine which she anticipated — correctly — would be approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration that day.

She said she hopes the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the Centers for Disease Control release their recommendations about the vaccine over the weekend, and she will be able to see those recommendations during a call with the state health department at 3 p.m. today.

She said, based on the state’s plan, front-line health care workers and long-term care and assisted living facility residents and staff will be in first round of immunizations, and local health departments are working on helping coordinate that.

Larson said she’s been in contact with Hill County Emergency Medical Services and other similar organizations to get the number of people to be vaccinated in that first round and has been sending said information to the state.

She said she’s also been contacting assisted living facilities, one of which is still not scheduled to receive the vaccine yet.

She said CVS will be handling distribution for long-term care and assisted living facilities.

Hill County Sanitarian-in-Training Will Lorett also gave a brief update on his office’s activities which he said has mostly consisted of following up on business spot checks for the most part.

Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland proposed that no COVID-19 updates be held this week or next week since both Fridays are holidays.

Larson agreed that that would be fine, that she’d keep people up to date and will be available by email for questions.

The Hill County Health Department has been posting updates on daily reports on its Facebook page, as has been the Blaine County Health Department.

The Rocky Boy Health Center and Fort Belknap council of the Fort Belknap Indian Community also have been posting updates on their Facebook pages.

Wendland said, if something urgent transpires, the health board can hold a special meeting or get information to the public another way.

The next COVID-19 update was set for Friday, Jan. 8.