Blaine County Health Department investigating COVID outbreak

A COVID-19 outbreak in Blaine County is under investigation, Blaine County Health Department said in a release.

The release said public health mitigation steps are in place and public health is responding to the outbreak.

The department reported being notified of eight new cases April 19, 14 new cases April 20, 20 new cases April 21-24 and 16 new cases from April 25 to Monday.

Kim Berg, chief health officer at Hill County Health Department, said this morning that her department had right around 25 positives reported in April.

“We saw a small increase in the rate of hospitalization with four being hospitalized, but they all were able to be released within a day or two of being hospitalized so that is good,” she said.

In line with milder symptoms generally seen, along with an even higher level of contagiousness, in the latest variant of COVID-19, Blaine County reported no new deaths and no hospitalizations, although the disease still is making people very ill.

“We have seen an uptick in COVID-19 activity in Blaine County recently,” the release said. “Symptoms include ‘feels like a head cold,’ fever, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of taste and smell, fatigue, body aches, chills and shortness of breath. Also watch for ‘pink-eye’ symptoms — red, itchy, burning — as this is a new symptom being reported.

“This is a tough time of the year with the beginning of allergy season, but if these symptoms are accompanied by a fever, it’s not allergies,” the release added.

The release asks Blaine County residents to be vigilant.

“Please wash your hands, cover your cough and sneezes, stay away from sick people, stay home when you’re sick,” the release said. “All of these mitigation efforts will help control the spread of illness.”

It also asks people who test positive on a home test to contact their local health department so the department can provide them with resources they may need, such as a letter for their employer, correct timelines for isolation and quarantine periods and so on.

“We ask this so that we have a better idea of what the level of COVID-19 is in our communities so that we can help protect those individuals that may be at risk for severe disease or complications,” the release said.