Daines, Tester Urge COVID Vaccinations

U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester of Montana are teaming up to release a public service announcement encouraging Montanans to make an appointment to receive their COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

“Hi, folks, Jon Tester here. And I’m Steve Daines. While it’s true Steve and I don’t always see eye to eye, there’s one thing we agree on. And that’s getting your COVID-19 vaccine. It’s our best shot at putting this pandemic behind us for good. These vaccines are safe, effective and free, and they are available to all Montanans 16 and older. You can go to vaccinefinder.org for more information. We both got our shots. We hope you get yours soon!”

All Montanans aged 16 and older are currently eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine appointments at participating clinics, pharmacies, and other locations can be found at vaccinefinder.org.

Area Statistics

As of Sunday, May 2, Roosevelt County has nine active cases and two current hospitalizations. There have been 55 COVID-related deaths reported in the county. As of Monday, May 3, Valley County’s active count was six. There have been 901 total cases and 11 reported COVID-reported deaths. Daniels County had zero active cases as of Monday, May 3. The county has 189 recovered cases and 197 cumulative cases. Eight deaths have occurred due to COVID-19 and/or complications. There are no cases currently hospitalized.

In McCone County, there are no active cases as of Monday, May 3. There are 182 recovered cases. There has been one COVID-related death in the county.

The Phillips County Health Department was reporting two active cases as of Friday, April 30. Five hundred and eight cases are listed as recovered. There have been 17 reported COVID-related deaths.

For Richland County, there are seven active cases and 1,207 recovered cases as of Thursday, April 29. Total deaths are 17. There have been 1,231 total cases.

Statewide

According to Montana health officials, the state’s total number of known cases now stands at 109,092 since the start of the pandemic. There have been 1,305,590 tests conducted.

Around the state, there are 1,112 active cases. There are 59 active hospitalizations. By Tuesday, May 4, a total of 1,574 deaths have been reported statewide. A total of 106,406 people are listed as recovered.

Though there is no state mask mandate, local jurisdictions may still choose to implement their own mask requirements. Gianforte emphasized how providing incentives and encouraging personal responsibility are more effective than imposing unenforceable government mandates.

In keeping with Gianforte’s Jan. 13 directive which removed restrictions on hours of service and capacity for businesses, the latest directive continues to encourage businesses to adopt industry best practices or public health guidance to protect their employees and customers. The directive also continues to promote the use of telehealth services, protect vulnerable Montanans from eviction or foreclosure, ease of licensing for health care professionals and a reduction in regulatory burdens.

Vaccine Doses

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services’ dashboard features county by county breakdown as far as vaccination numbers.

In Roosevelt County, 4,741 total doses have been administered. There have been 2,300 fully immunizations.

As of Monday, May 3, 721,110 total doses have been administered in Montana. There are 333,154 fully immunized Montanans.

The dashboard can be found at https://www.arcgis. com/apps/MapSeries/ index.html?appid=7c-34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b.