HELENA — Lewis and Clark Public Health (LCPH) are concerned following a spike of COVID-19 cases in the county, with 19 active cases being reported in a one-day. Public Health officials are begging the community to still be cautious.
“The last couple of days we've had a spike in cases that we haven't seen since early May,” said Health Officer Drenda Niemann.
Currently, Lewis and Clark County has 54 active cases, with 6 documented delta variant strains. Niemann says the group they've seen contracting the virus are unvaccinated.
"Individuals that are not yet vaccinated are contracting the virus and it continues to spread through our community at this time we're looking at least 33 identified variants in Lewis and Clark County and most of those are the alpha variant from the UK,” said Niemann.
Niemann is also recommending the public, regardless of vaccination status, reevaluate going to big indoor gatherings and even wearing masks while in large indoor settings.
Lewis and Clark County has a moderate community transmission rate right now, meaning no re-masking for now.
“Our community transmission is not yet to a place where we would recommend universal masking again,” said Niemann.
Data from the last year has shown it does not take long before large spikes in cases to arise, and Niemann says the residents of Lewis and Clark County dictate how COVID-19 will impact the community.
“If we're able to put a cap on the rise in cases then we're not going to see restrictions happen across our county and we as residents of this county have the power right now, we have the power to get vaccinated and we have the power to moderate, take a few precautions right now to try to reduce the risk and stop the spread,” said Niemann.
