COVID-19 cases drop in Hill County

In a COVID-19 update held by the Hill County Health Department Friday Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Berg said the area’s COVID-19 numbers look noticeably better after an uptick in COVID-19 cases earlier this month.

Berg said, as of last Thursday at 5 p.m., the county has only three active cases, one hospitalization and 18 people in quarantine being tracked by the department.

She said there have been no reinfections, nor breakthrough cases — a case of a person getting COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated — in the past two weeks.

She said the county has also identified three cases confirmed to have been variants, but all of these cases have recovered.

“Numbers are looking good right now,” Berg said.

Overall, she said, of the 10 cases in the county confirmed to be variants seven are classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “of concern” and three are classified as “of interest.”

A variant of interest is defined by the CDC as one with specific genetic markers that have been associated with things like reduced neutralization by antibodies generated against previous infection or vaccination, reduced efficacy of treatments, or a predicted increase in transmissibility or disease severity.

Variants of concern are ones for which there is evidence of an increase in transmissibility, more severe disease — e.g., increased hospitalizations or deaths — significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures.

When it comes to vaccination, Berg said, 42 percent of the eligible population in Hill County has been fully vaccinated, lagging behind the state by about 3 percent.

“We’ve got a ways to go there,” she said.

She said the county now has access to the Pfizer vaccine, the only vaccine approved for 12- to 15-year-olds, and her department will be offering it on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Berg said the department is looking to increase the number of days they offer the Pfizer vaccine in the future, as well as use their van to get the vaccines out to the community in a more convenient way, but staffing and time issues may be an obstacle in the case of the latter.

She said younger people in the county, and the nation, have lower vaccination rates than other age demographics and the department is trying to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to get vaccinated.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson asked about some areas in the state holding drawings to incentivise people getting the vaccine and how that is being funded.

Berg said the bigger drawings are being funded by private businesses and organizations not through state grants or anything like that.

However, she said, the state health department is trying to get the OK to use those kinds of incentives themselves.

Despite the good news, she said, people in the community need to be mindful that the pandemic is still happening and take precautions for the safety of themselves and others.

“Continue being vigilant,” she said. “… It’s still here, it’s still out there in the community, and it’s still causing major health issues and unfortunately some deaths still.”

Berg said people need to keep washing their hands thoroughly, socially distancing when they can and wearing masks when they can’t.

This COVID-19 update by the board will be the last, and Berg said from now on she will give information directly to media outlets, unless there is a major change in the area’s situation.

She said given the state of things in the county with COVID-19 the updates are no longer as important, but if anything drastic happens related to the pandemic the board may start them up again.

“I don’t know that these are necessary at this point,” she said.

Berg said people should keep an eye on the Havre Daily News, New Media Broadcasters and the department’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hillcountyhealth/, as they will be the primary methods the department uses to disseminate information to the public from now on.