Gov. Bullock commends Phillips County for COVID-19 response

The Phillips County Health Department reported on Wednesday, September 9, that all of the 113 people who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus have recovered, none are in the hospital, and there are now no active cases in the county.

“Throughout the past couple of weeks, it is clearly evident that COVID-19 has made a strong presence in Phillips County,” the Health Department reported on August 19. “It is also clearly evident that with immediate reaction, diligent contact tracing, fast testing turnaround, cooperative individuals, and help from our amazing local healthcare partners, we were able to slow down the spread and bring down the number of active cases in our communities.”

On August 4 of the year, the Health Department confirmed the first five positive COVID-19 cases in Phillips County before the number climbed to 113 on September 1. During that time, mask mandates, outlined by Montana Governor Steve Bullock, went into effect in Phillips County.

Gov. Bullock in mid-August said Phillips County was an example of the state not learning to live with the virus in our presence, according to the Great Falls Tribune. He said numbers ballooned here following a sporting event that included a visit to bars. He also mentioned the Phillips County Fair and other social events.

Gov. Bullock on Thursday afternoon said that he has highlighted the lowering cases in Phillips County in his press conferences over the past two weeks before again commending the community again today for working toward getting positive COVID-19 cases down.

“It’s great to see the numbers back to zero because you were at zero before it all started,” Gov. Bullock said. “I commend the folks in the county for taking it seriously and I think what we want everywhere hotspots to make it to where it is no longer a hotspot and that means actually following quarantine and self-isolation. That means social distancing, wearing a mask, following the guidelines, and taking care of one another like the folks in Phillips County have been doing to get back down to zero.”

Thursday afternoon saw 196 new cases of COVID-19 in Montana, according to montana.maps.arcgis.com, which is not always up to date and still shows Phillips County with two active cases (which is inaccurate.) There has been a total of 8,663 cases in the state of Montana, currently, 1,808 are active, 6,732 have recovered with a total of 123 deaths. There are currently 163 active hospitalizations in Montana.