Delta variant COVID surge continues in area

Cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in the region with the Delta variant now confirmed in Hill County.

"Seeing an increase in cases and now having the Delta variant confirmed in our community, we want to remind everyone that the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and our department strongly recommend that all eligible persons be fully vaccinated to prevent COVID-19," a release from the Hill County Health Department said Friday. "Vaccination is important to not only prevent infection, but also to reduce the severity of illness, protect the more vulnerable people around you, and slow the mutation of new, more harmful strains."

The release also recommends that everyone, vaccinated and unvaccinated, wear masks when indoors to reduce the spread of the variant.

Research shows that the Delta variant is the first version of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely to be spread by fully vaccinated people.

Vaccination effectively stopped transmission of the previous versions of the virus, but the Delta variant can be spread by vaccinated people, research shows.

Vaccination still greatly reduces the chance of hospitalization or death due to the Delta variant, with 99 percent or more of people experiencing severe illness unvaccinated.

Rocky Boy Health Center, which also reports its findings to the Chouteau or Hill county health departments depending on where the reservation resident lives, reported two confirmed cases of the Delta variant Friday.

The more highly contagious variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 previously had been confirmed in a case in Blaine County.

Havre Daily was unable to reach anyone in the Chouteau County Health Department for information on whether the variant has been confirmed there.

Liberty County Health Department would not say whether the Delta variant had been confirmed in that county due to patient privacy issues.

The state COVID-19 tracking map this morning listed four active cases in Liberty County and one in Chouteau County.

The numbers released by the health departments Friday listed four active cases in Blaine County and 22 in Hill County.

Hill County Health Department Public Health Director Kim Berg, who also is the Hill County Health Officer, said this morning that she believes the variant is more widespread in the area than the confirmation shows.

"There is not targeted testing for variants, just surveillance, and now that we have confirmed cases it is safe to say there are more in our community as well," she said.

And COVID-19 nearly canceled the carnival at Blaine County Fair, which begins this week.

Blaine County Fair Manager Debbie Ramberg said the carnival already had to scale back due to staffing shortages, and could have canceled entirely due to the illness. Two of the carnival's remaining staff members were contact traced and could have threatened to shut them down entirely.

However, Ramberg said, the carnival was recently in Dodson, which seems to indicate they are safe to come to Blaine County with six children's rides.

Normally they would have had six bounce houses, a bungee jumper, a laser tag area, four games and nine children's rides, but the staff shortages have forced them to scale back.

With the Delta variant now the dominant strain in Montana, the numbers for the state continue to climb.

The state tracking map update this morning listed 395 new cases in Montana with 2,166 active and 154 hospitalizations.

Since the virus was first confirmed in Montana in March 2020, 118,270 cases have been confirmed and the state has had 1,723 COVID-19-related deaths.

The United States had nearly 125,000 new cases in the CDC dat update Sunday, with 630 new deaths nationwide.

Vaccinations in Hill County are available through the county health department, Northern Montana Health Care, Bullhook Community Health Center, Gary & Leo's Pharmacy, Western Drug, Walmart and the Rocky Boy Health Center.

Vaccinations are available in Blaine County through the Blaine County Health Department and Fort Belknap Health Center.

Vaccine is available in Chouteau County at the Chouteau County Health Center and Big Sandy Pharmacy.

In Liberty County, Liberty County Health Department is providing vaccinations.

The Hill County Health Department press release asks everyone to help slow the spread of the virus.

"Together ,we can slow the spread of COVID-19 and stop this pandemic," it said. "Thank you to our community for all that you are doing, please keep it up and consider getting your vaccine if you haven't already."