The City-Health Department in Great Falls announced on Friday that a Cascade County resident has died due to COVID-19.
This is the first COVID-19-related death in Cascade County. The person was a woman over the age of 65, according to the CCHD; no other details will be released, according to the CCHD, including whether she had traveled recently.
There have been a total of 13 confirmed cases in Cascade County to date, and the CCHD said several days ago that eight of those patients have recovered; at least one of the 13 did require hospitalization.
CCHD health officer Trisha Gardner said in a news release, "Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the patient's family and loved ones. We want to remind our community about the importance of staying at home, and we urge you to continue being vigilant and supportive of each other as we all work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect each other, especially the most vulnerable."
As of Friday, there have been a total of 422 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Montana, an increase of seven since Thursday.
- Including the Cascade County case, there have now been nine deaths to date in Montana. There have been four deaths in Toole County, and one each in Lincoln County, Madison County, Missoula County, Flathead County, and Cascade County.
- There have now been 54 hospitalizations to date of COVID-19 patients in Montana; 21 of those are considered "active (current) hospitalizations."
- There have been a total of 233 recovered patients to date.
- The DPHHS public health lab has completed 10,244 tests for COVID-19, including 308 tests since Thursday's update.
Toole County has been hit hard by COVID-19, with 29 confirmed cases among a population of about 4,900; Shelby, the county seat, has about 3,200 people.
All Toole County cases continue to consist of close contact, healthcare-related transmission. Marias Medical Center in Shelby said on March 26 that one of the residents of the Marias Heritage Center tested positive for COVID-19. Marias Heritage Center is a 38-apartment, state-licensed facility in Shelby. The next day, they said that some of the positive COVID-19 tests are from Marias Heritage Center employees. They also said: "This situation also exposed others to COVID-19 and, as such, we expect there could be other positives."
Governor Steve Bullock has scheduled a news conference at 2:00 pm on Friday to provide an update on Montana's response to COVID-19.
Click here to see the current total of confirmed cases by county .
Counties with new confirmed cases since Thursday:
- Toole County: 29 Total Cases | 3 New Cases
- Roosevelt County: 6 Total Cases | 2 New Cases
- Gallatin County: 142 Total Cases | 1 New Cases
- Missoula County: 34 Total Cases | 1 New Cases
- CONTINUING COVERAGE:
COVID-19 in Montana (Thursday, April 16)
Report: "Interim Analysis of COVID-19 cases in Montana"
Legislative leaders ask Bullock to reconsider some restrictions
Determining how many people have recovered
IRS deposits first wave of stimulus checks into bank accounts
COVID-19 update for Cascade County (Saturday, April 11)
Great Falls Job Service provides update on unemployment assistance
OPI recommends closing for remainder of school year
COVID-19: Q&A with a Great Falls physician
Toole County provides update on COVID-19 (Thursday, April 9)
Officials highlight recoveries of two COVID-19 patients in Montana
