PCHD urges community to stay home, avoid large gatherings

As of Monday afternoon, the State of Montana website is reporting 34 active cases in Phillips County, out of a total of 395 total cases. Between December 14 and 17, the Phillips County Health Department reported 30 new cases. 34 cases are reported as active, out of a total of 394, with 350 cases considered recovered and seven hospitalizations out of a total of 38. At last reporting, ten county residents have lost their lives.

In a Facebook post on December 16, the PC Health Department announced the tenth death in the county and issued this statement:

“Transmission of COVID-19 is very high right now in Phillips County. We are doing disease investigation and surveillance all day long and finding that this virus is spreading very rapidly in our communities. PLEASE reconsider attending or hosting events or gatherings leading into these next few holiday weeks. It has not been enjoyable to call parents to tell them their family is quarantined over Christmas.

We need to slow the spread. That is the point we are trying to make, and that a lot of people are failing to understand. People are very sick, hospitals are under a lot of stress, including our own local healthcare facility, and we do not want to add more to their plate. We also want to make sure that if you’re needing medical care, that you’re able to receive it, Covid or not. If you’re sick, STAY HOME. If you think you have a “head cold” or “sinus infection”, you could have COVID-19 and could spread it to others. Mask mandate remains in effect for Phillips County.”

State of Montana health officials reported 8,003 active cases on Monday, December 21. There have been 77,324 total cases of COVID-19, with 68,440 cases considered to be recovered. Montana has seen 3,867 new cases in Montana in the past seven days alone. 253 Montanans are currently hospitalized with the virus, out of a total of 3,280 since the beginning of the pandemic. 881 Montanans have died of the virus.

Nationwide, the CDC reports 197,616 new cases on Monday afternoon, out of a total of 17,790,376. A total of 316,844 people have died in the U.S. since the beginning of 2020.