Delta-driven COVID surge hitting Montana

The surge in COVID-19 cases - and hospitalizations - has hit the United States including Montana and is starting to show in this region of the state.

Blaine, Chouteau, Hill and Liberty counties all have seen an increase in cases after a comparative lull for a couple of months.

In a release Tuesday, Hill County Health Department reported the county has 21 active cases, and Blaine County Health Department reports six active cases there.

Hill County had dropped to no active cases by June 21, and stayed at six or fewer active cases through July 1. The numbers grew a bit early in that month, ranging from three to 10 active cases through July 25, then the numbers started growing again. July 27 saw nine new cases confirmed.

Blaine County's newly confirmed cases dropped to a trickle through much of July, but the number of active cases started creeping up again in late July.

The state tracking map lists no active cases in Chouteau County, but shows two active cases in Liberty County.

The nonprofit group COVID Act Now lists Chouteau County as a low risk of transmission - one or two new cases could quickly change that - but Hill, Liberty and Blaine counties are listed with a high risk of transmission.

And across the state, where active cases and hospitalizations had dropped significantly, they are climbing back up again.

The tracking map is listing 200-400 new cases daily this week - 296 today, more than 400 Tuesday - and the number of active cases has grown to 1,695 and active hospitalizations to 125.

Some former hot spots in the state have high numbers again, with 403 active cases in Flathead County, 246 in Yellowstone County, 180 in Missoula County and 160 in Cascade County.

Nationwide, the U.S. has more than 35million cases with nearly 79,000 new cases Tuesday and more than 590,000 in the last seven days.

The nation had 392 new deaths, bringing the national total to 611,791.

And the new cases are almost entirely in unvaccinated people, with areas of lower numbers of vaccinated people seeing a larger surge.

Although exactly what is happening with the Delta variant and vaccinated people still being determined, the three U.S.-approved vaccines appear to be doing what was hoped with COVID-19, including the Delta variant, and almost eliminating hospitalizations and deaths.

Officials report that about 95 percent or more of COVID-19-caused hospitalizations are in unvaccinated people and unvaccinated people make up 99 percent or more of COVID-19-related deaths.

And the impact of the Delta variant on younger people also is unclear. More and more younger people are making up a greater percentage of the total of new cases and of hospitalizations and deaths, but whether that is because they are more susceptible to the variant and whether it is more dangerous is not certain.

The average age of hospitalizations has dropped from about 60 to about 40, but the changing numbers could be because younger people make up the greatest percentage of unvaccinated people - or because they are more susceptible to the variant and it is more likely to put them in the hospital. Researchers are still trying to determine which is the case.

And it also is changing the case on mask recommendations. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in May that vaccinated people were extremely unlikely to catch and spread the virus and recommended that masks not be required for vaccinated people.

But the Delta variant appears to be able to latch on to fully vaccinated people who then can spread the virus, unlike earlier variants, CDC reports.

With that data, CDC has recommended that to reduce the spread of the Delta variant, everyone including vaccinated people should wear masks when indoors around people.

In its release, Blaine County Health Department echoed that.

"Due to the circulation and increased contagiousness of the Delta variant, even fully vaccinated people should mask up in areas with significant community transmission," the release said.

But the main message from health care officials and medical researchers remains the same - people need to get vaccinated to reduce the chance of illness and death and to end the pandemic.

In remarks he made Tuesday, President Joe Biden said experts say the numbers are likely to rise in coming weeks, "a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better."

He said the best line of defense against the virus is the vaccine.

"It's as simple as that," Biden said. "Period. The vaccine."

"... This is a tragedy," he added. "People are dying and will die who don't have to die. The data is absolutely clear. As I've said, we have a pandemic of the unvaccinated."