Ravalli County Public Health COVID-19 update
July 1, 2020
As of 4:00 today, Ravalli County has not received notification of any new cases.
At this time, Ravalli County has 20 cases we are investigating and doing contact tracing. These cases are in Darby, Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville. Three cases are hospitalized.
All of these cases are in isolation and their contacts are in quarantine.
Through contact tracing, we have over 150 people in quarantine as they have been determined to be close contacts. We have also determined Ravalli County has community spread, since several cases cannot be traced back to another positive case.
Ravalli County’s active cases are not all counted on the State map due to some cases having out of state addresses and some delay in the reporting process. Overall, Ravalli County has had 39 cases of COVID-19 since March. The Montana map will show only 33, due to six cases having out of state addresses
Not all of our cases have had symptoms when they were tested. Through contact tracing, we have referred some people to be tested and they have come back positive. People can pass COVID-19 to others 48 hours prior to having symptoms.
Some of our cases have had severe COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and loss of sense of taste or smell.
COVID-19 is a serious viral disease that can cause severe illness and even death. There is no vaccine or readily available treatment. It can be transmitted by people who are unaware that they are infected. Therefore, Ravalli County Public Health Department continues to stress that masks and physical distancing are measures proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We encourage people to be cautious, wear masks, try to maintain a 6-foot physical distance and wash hands frequently.
Please remember that people in our county are vulnerable to this disease – such as those taking certain medications or with weakened immune systems. Their lives could be threatened by being infected. Others at high risk include the elderly and people with underlying conditions, such as asthma and autoimmune diseases.
With some people more susceptible to the virus and serious outcomes from it, we need to work together to help protect each other. Please, wear a mask, wash your hands and practice physical distancing.
Call 406-375-6672 with questions regarding COVID-19.