Roosevelt County Has Six Active Cases As Of Tuesday, State Number Tops 6,624 Overall

As of press time Tuesday, Aug. 25, Roosevelt County has six current active cases of COVID-19. Valley County’s active count was three, while McCone County has one active case. Phillips County has six active cases.

The case count changes daily and all are encourage to visit the Roosevelt County Health Department’s Facebook page or call 653-6124 for confirmation of the official daily count to ensure compliance with the governor’s mask mandate. Both are updated by 11 a.m. daily.

One death has been reported in Roosevelt County and 28 have been reported as recovered.

The governor’s July 15 directive for counties with four or more active cases requires face masking in any indoor space, open to the public, is mandatory for people ages five years and older. For children 2-4 years of age, face coverings are strongly encouraged. A drape may be used for babies.

The governor changed his mask directive on Aug. 12 to include all public and private schools to require wearing masks in any county with four or more active COVID-19 cases.

County sheriffs and other law enforcement across the state have said that the mask mandate is not enforceable and violations should not be called into 911.

Statewide

According to Montana health officials, 778 COVID-19 cases in the state were reported between Aug. 19 and Aug. 25, making the state’s total number of known cases 6,624 since the start of the pandemic. Around the state, 1,636 people are known to be currently infected, up 80 from Aug. 18. A total of 394 have been hospitalized with 119 currently hospitalized. This is up 22 from Aug. 18. A total of 4,891 people are listed as recovered, up from 4,206 on Tuesday, Aug. 18. By Tuesday, Aug. 25, 97 deaths had been reported statewide, up from 84 deaths Aug. 18.

Tests completed statewide over the past week numbered 30,995 with a total of 236,507 tests conducted statewide since the start of the pandemic. That testing number is up from 11,100 tests the week before. The 6,624 known cases results in an overall 2.8 percent positive test result rate and .6 percent of the state’s 1.069 million residents.

Scams Related To COVID-19

In the past week, Roosevelt County Health Department has received notice about COVID-19 related scams occurring in the area. Contact tracing calls are being made by individuals posing as government officials or healthcare representatives. These calls come in various forms, but are centered on gaining personal information such as social security numbers, credit card or bank account information.

Roosevelt County Health Department stated that its staff will identify themselves as RCHD staff and that they will not ask for any personal information during contact tracing.

If you are suspicious of a call, contact Roosevelt County Health Department at 653-6223 to verify if a call you receive is legitimate.

Tips on how to protect yourself from scams can be found at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/ blog/2020/05/covid-19-contact-tracing- text-message-scams.

Remdesivir Bound For Montana

U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced Aug. 20 that Montana will be receiving 42 cases of Remdesivir, which is a drug that has received emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat certain patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

“These shipments are playing a critical role in treating Montanans hospitalized with COVID-19,” Daines said. “I will continue working to ensure that Montana has access to the treatments we need during this ongoing pandemic.”

There are 40 vials per case and the average patient receives 6.25 vials over a five-day course of treatment.

More information can be found on hhs.gov regarding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreement to secure large supplies of Remdesivir for the United States from Gilead Sciences through September, allowing American hospitals to purchase the drug in amounts allocated by HHS and state health departments.

Fort Peck Tribes

The Fort Peck Tribes reverted to phase one Monday, Aug. 17, and the reservation-wide curfew is now 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The tribes will remain in phase one for a minimum of two weeks.

Other restrictions under phase one include:

•Essential medical travel is allowed.

•Tribal casinos closed.

•Essential workers only (per director).

•Basketball hoops removed.

•All tribal buildings are closed to the public.

•Tribal hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This decision, which only affects enrolled persons of any tribe living on the Fort Peck Reservation, was made by the tribal health board under a 7-0 vote. Members of the tribal health board are Kaci Wallette, Carla Payne, Charlie Headdress, Larry Burshia, Ray White Tail Feather, Kermit Smith and Dana Buckles.

In a Facebook post Aug. 11, Wallette shared information about pandemic relief assistance payments. “TEB voted and approved of continuing the COVID-19 Energy Assistance payments to be $200 monthly until December 2020,” said Wallette. “We also voted to approve a second COVID-19 Relief Assistance Payment with the $650 per adult and $200 per child. No need to send in second application for either if you have already applied. Deadline will be Aug. 31, 2020, to apply. Second payment scheduled to be mailed out Sept. 21.”