State Purchases COVID Rapid Tests

The State of Montana has purchase of 650,000 COVID-19 rapid tests to be distributed to county public health departments. Because of provisions in the American Rescue Plan, the state has access to testing supplies and funding opportunities to purchase these supplies so Montanans can receive tests for free.

Starting on Jan. 19, Americans can order a COVID test online at COVIDTests.gov. Tests will be mailed directly to households and will typically ship within 7 to 12 days of ordering. To ensure broad access, the program will limit the number of tests sent to each residential address to four tests. This is just one program for people to get tests — not the only program. To ensure equity, the Biden Administration will launch a free call line and work with local organizations to support the nation’s hardest-hit and highest-risk communities.

Private health insurance companies will be required to cover at-home COVID-19 tests for free effective Jan. 15. The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services established a website, cms.gov, to answer frequently asked questions.

Area Statistics The number of active COVID cases in Roosevelt County is 55 as of Monday, Jan. 17. The highest amount of active cases during the week was 72 on Jan. 14. There have now been 69 COVID-related deaths in the county.

Daniels County had six active cases as of Monday, Jan. 17. The county has 309 recovered cases and 324 cumulative cases. Nine deaths have occurred due to COVID-19 and/or complications.

Valley County reports 48 active cases as of Friday, Jan. 14. The county has 1,371 recovered cases and 1,451 cumulative cases. There have been 32 COVID-related deaths.

In McCone County, there are seven active cases as of Friday, Jan. 14. There have been nine COVID-related deaths in the county. There have been 310 recovered cases and 326 cumulative cases.

Phillips County had 12 active cases as of Tuesday, Jan. 11. There have been 868 recovered cases and 26 COVID-related deaths.

For Richland County, there were 39 active cases and 2,098 recovered cases as of Tuesday, Jan. 11. Total COVID-related deaths are 30. There have been 2,167 total cases.

Sheridan County had 12 active cases as of Monday, Jan. 17. There have been 563 recovered cases and 10 COVID-related deaths.

Statewide

According to Montana health officials, the state’s total number of known cases now stands at 212,078 since the start of the pandemic. There have been 2,379,729 tests conducted.

Around the state, there are 11,448 active cases. There are 195 active hospitalizations. By Monday, Jan. 17, a total of 2,945 deaths have been reported statewide. A total of 197,685 people have recovered. A total of 10,632 have been hospitalized.

Vaccine Doses

As of Monday, Jan. 17, 1,355,958 total doses have been administered in Montana. There are 544,572 or 53 percent fully immunized Montanans.

In Roosevelt County, 10,632 total doses have been administered as of Monday, Jan. 17. There are 4,550 fully immunized for 46 percent of the county’s 9,918 eligible for vaccination.

In Valley County, 7,471 total doses have been administered. There are 3,116 fully immunized for 45 percent of the county’s 6,931 eligible.