Active COVID-19 cases jumps to 17 in county

By SCOTT SHINDLEDECKER

Valley Press

While Sanders County and the state of Montana can’t seem to get on the same page in terms of how many active cases of COVID-19 exist, county officials are reporting 17 as of Monday.

Two of those are county employees. Contact tracing has been initiated.

According to information on the county’s Facebook page, the Sanders County Health Department reported 17 active cases in the county, not the 12 on the map the state provides.

County officials said the ongoing discrepancy in case counts may be due to the high number of new cases in Montana in recent days may be making it more difficult to keep the numbers up to date.

Wednesday, Sept. 30, the county reported six active cases in the county, enacting the state mask directive.

Officials recommended basic precautions, which include social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, wearing a mask, stay home when sick and practice good personal hygiene.

Sept. 12, the county confirmed the first COVID-19 related death in the county. Personal information withheld. Then, there were two active cases in the county.

Sept. 20, the county confirmed four cases, which briefly enacted the state directives on face coverings and social distancing. But by Sept. 22, the active count dropped to three.

Between then and Sept. 22, the active count remained between two and three. Two cases were dropped from the official count because they live in another county.

The virus increase in the county follows the rapid increase in cases across Montana.

According to state figures from Sunday, Oct. 4, there were 4,851 active cases in Montana, 191 active hospitalizations and 187 deaths. Numbers show 9,597 people have recovered.

Neighboring Flathead County has had an explosion of cases with 75 new actives Oct. 4 and 728 active. Missoula County had 335 active cases with one new.

Lincoln County had 11 new cases and 40 active. Lake County had 45 active cases, but no new ones. Mineral County has four active cases.