Montana COVID Reported Cases Down Slightly Over Previous Week
These are only the reported cases, many who test positive do not report to authorities
By Denise Rivette
The reported rates of COVID-19 dipped slightly this week in Montana. On Friday, August 9, the Montana Department of Health and Human Services reported 462 COVID cases, a 5% decrease of 24 cases compared to the 486 cases reported the previous Friday.
While the new FLiRT variants are highly transmissible, they so far have produced milder symptoms in most people. Anecdotally, of the five cases described to me by Carbon County citizens in the past two months: two resulted in a sore throat for a few days, two resulted in moderate flu-like symptoms for two to four days, and one resulted in miserable flu-like symptoms for several days followed by long COVID. None of these cases were reported to the Public Health Department.
New COVID guidelines from the CDC align with those of other endemic respiratory viruses and advise that people who test positive stay home and stay away from others (including those in the same household). According to the CDC, after testing positive you can resume normal activities when both of the following statements have been true for at least 24 hours:
Your symptoms are getting better overall; and
You do not have a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication)
When returning to your normal activities, you should take added precautions over the next five days, such as masking, physical distancing and testing.
COVID -19 Cases Reported in Montana (data reporting lags behind testing results)
Reported August 9 - 462 cases
Reported August 2 - 486 cases
Reported July 26 - 354 cases
Reported July 19 - 340 cases
Reported July 12 - 243 cases
Reported July 5 - 235 cases
Reported June 28 - 186 cases
Reported June 21 - 167 cases
Reported June 14 - 131 cases
Reported June 7 - 125 cases
Reported May 31 - 61 cases
Information on reported cases from Montana Department of Health and Human Services.
KFF Health News has produced a slide show with information including the new CDC guidelines. You can see the slideshow HERE.