Studio Montage Salon & Spa in downtown Great Falls says that two of its employees tested positive for COVID-19, and they have temporarily closed the business.
Studio Montage, located at 118 Central Avenue, posted on Facebook that they decided to close based on guidance and regulations from both the City-County Health Department and the state, adding that they will remain closed until they "feel that we can safetly provides services for our guest (sic) as well as a safe working environment for our team."
They also said: "As far as the two team members who did test positive, they were wearing their masks all day prior to them even being contagious."
On Wednesday evening, they said that they began contacting all clients that had an appointment with the affected employees.
The City-County Health Department said that there were five new cases confirmed in Cascade County on Wednesday; a man in his 60s, and three women and one man in their 20s. The CCHD noted that, as is standard in all cases, the patients are isolated and the CCHD is performing contact tracing.
Free drive-through testing is available in Great Falls from Alluvion Health in the parking lot of the former Westgate Mall; click here for dates and times. As with previous reporting of COVID-19 cases, the lack of specific information about cases has some people upset, but the disclosure of patient information is regulated at both the federal and the state level. Click here to read more about privacy regulations.
Health officials reported 96 new COVID-19 cases across Montana on Thursday morning, according to the Montana Response COVID-19 tracking map, and three new deaths. The three deaths were reported in Yellowstone County; all three were residents of a care facility in Billings, where dozens of staff and residents have been infected.
