County announces 2 COVID deaths as active cases decline
Lake County health officials announced two additional deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic this week, bringing the county’s total number of fatalities to 16 since the outbreak began.
On Dec. 9, Lake County Public Health announced the death of a man in his 60s. The following day officials said a woman in her 60s had died. Among the 16 deaths as of Tuesday, 13 were men, and eight of those 13 were in the 50-79 age range. So far no Lake County deaths among those younger than 50 have been announced. Additional details on the deaths are being withheld to protect the privacy of patients and their families.
Meanwhile, initial doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Montana this week. State officials have said frontline health care workers will be the top priority at first. No Lake County hospitals made the list for initial doses, though Kalispell Regional Healthcare was expected to receive a shipment Wednesday and begin distribution Thursday. Missoula’s two hospitals also are slated to receive some of the initial doses.
On Friday the federal Indian Health Service announced that it has submitted a plan to vaccinate more than 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The agency expects to receive 22,425 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week and 46,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine before the end of the year.
The vaccine arrives as Lake County’s number of active cases dropped to 144 on Tuesday, down from 191 the previous week. A total of 1,499 cases had been confirmed as of Tuesday. There have been 93 hospitalizations, and there were 12 active hospitalizations Tuesday, up from five the previous week.
The number of Lake County students on quarantine dropped significantly last week. There were more than 200 students on quarantine on Dec. 8, but just 73 on Tuesday morning. The district also reports six active cases, four students and two staff members. In addition to the 73 students, 11 staff members also are out on quarantine.
In its weekly update provided Saturday, the Ronan School District reported six active cases among all of its schools, with 21 students and three staff members on quarantine. And on Friday St. Ignatius schools reported just two active cases, both among staff, with eight students and two staff members on quarantine.
Students in the Arlee School District returned to classrooms last week following a two-week districtwide move to remote learning only. The return was short-lived for many, however, as the district announced that due to a high number of close contact quarantines among staff members, the high school would go back to remote only through the start of the Christmas break.
Charlo High School principal Jonathan Gustafson said Tuesday his district has all staff in the building and only two students quarantined, as a result of contact outside of the school.
No new cases were reported at Salish Kootenai College in the state’s weekly schools update. The college has had 10 total cases, but no new cases for several weeks.
On Tuesday, Lake County Public Health officials announced they have opted to adopt federal Centers for Disease Control quarantine option of 10 days for those considered in close contact while not exhibiting symptoms. Previous protocols called for a 14-day quarantine. The move was made in conjunction with CSKT Tribal Health, St. Luke Community Healthcare, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and Polson Health.
Statewide, 74,040 cumulative cases and 826 deaths had been reported in Montana as of Tuesday. There were 8,916 active cases.
Last week the United States saw more than 3,000 single-day deaths for the first time. More than 301,000 Americans have died of coronavirus-related complications this year, and more than 16,575,000 cases have been reported, according to The Washington Post’s coronavirus tracker.