Elder homes in Montana are still seeing new infections from the illness caused by the novel coronavirus among residents and staff. The state’s most populated county will soon re-admit visitors to some long term care facilities.
On Thursday, Yellowstone County Health Officer John Felton issued an order that removes a ban on visitors to long-term care facilities that are free of COVID-19 cases.
Felton said cases were in the double digits at four different facilities over the past two months, including 100 cases at Canyon Creek Memory Care, but other facilities in Yellowstone County have been in the single digits.
“We feel that the mitigation strategies of the governor’s directive for these facilities to continually test staff and residents for COVID-19 are having the desired impact of keeping cases low," Felton said.
Starting September 14, visitors will be allowed to see residents either entirely outside or through a window as long as they’re masked, socially distant and have been screened for symptoms beforehand.
Felton said over the last two months, the county has seen 186 cases at 10 facilities. He said those cases resulted in 23 deaths in July and August, 17 of which were associated with the outbreak at Canyon Creek Memory Care.
Yellowstone County’s ban remained in place for roughly two months after Governor Steve Bullock lifted his own statewide ban on visits to long-term care homes June 25.
Bullock said at a Thursday press conference that the state also put certain protections in place, like requiring staff to be tested weekly as a prerequisite for visits.
“Even with these efforts though, collectively we haven’t been able to prevent all the outbreaks in these settings," Bullock said.
Bullock said that one Flathead County facility reported positive cases among more than 40 residents and 12 staff members, resulting in six deaths and three hospitalizations as of Thursday. The Flathead City-County Health Department announced another death Friday.
Bullock said roughly one in six long term care homes statewide have seen COVID-19 positive cases with an overall 340 cases in residents and staff and 35 or more deaths since March.
Alongside Yellowstone and Flathead Counties, Toole and Cascade counties have also reported facility outbreaks since the beginning of the pandemic.
