Hill County 75 percent done with Phase 1B

The local health department said Hill County is three-quarters of the way through the current phase of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Larson's written update on the state of COVID-19 in the county, state, and nation, read at a the Hill County Board of Health's COVID-19 update last Friday, said the Hill County Health Department is 75 percent through Phase 1B of the local vaccine roll-out.

Larson, as well as all three commissioners were not able to attend the update so Board Member Erica McKeon-Hanson read Larson's update.

McKeon-Hanson said while progress through Phase 1B is being made the health department cannot move into Phase 1C until they get approval from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, which estimated that it could be four to six weeks before the move to Phase 1C.

She said she's hoping that they will get approval sooner, and the department is taking calls from people in Phase 1C to be put on a waiting list in preparation for the eventual beginning of the phase.

Larson's report said of the estimated 12,000 people in the county eligible for the vaccine 3,300 - about 27 percent - have received a first dose, and 1,400 - 12 percent - are fully immunized.

The report said the county has 16 active cases of COVID-19 as of 5 p.m. last Thursday, and 54 people were in quarantine.

Regarding the rate of spread, McKeon-Hanson read from the report, between Feb. 15 and 21 the county saw 18.2 cases per day per 100,000 residents. For the local mask mandate to be considered for removal the county's rate of spread needs to be a 10 per day per 100,000 for two consecutive weeks.

Larson's report said it is necessary at this time, however, that the grim milestone of 500,000 COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. be acknowledged and put into perspective.

The report said the number equates to one COVID-19-related death per minute for the entire year since it made its way into the country, and is 25 percent more than U.S. military losses during World War 2.