Two More Active COVID Cases Confirmed in Missoula County

The Missoula City County Health Department has confirmed two more positive cases of COVID 19, following the one new case confirmed on Monday.

Incident Commander Cindy Farr provides details of the two new cases.

“We have two more cases,” said Farr. “One is related to travel and exposure to another case, and the other one is not related to travel or related to another case, so that means that case is due to community spread.”

Farr went over the protocols of how any new cases are handled.

“We talk to them about what kind of symptoms they are having, when their symptoms started, whether or not they’ve had any travel history within the last two weeks out of the county or outside of the state and find out where they went,” she said. “We also talk to them about whether or not they are a contact to a confirmed case or where they might have been when they were contagious.”

Keeping in mind that the past weekend brought two large gatherings into Missoula, the Black Lives Matter protest at Caras Park and the flag retirement ceremony near Fort Missoula, KGVO asked Farr what the procedure would be to determine if either of the two new cases had attended one of those events.

“If they attended a large event and they were not around only the people that they went to even with, the people that they know, then we would have to put out a public message that would say ‘one of our cases was at this particular event. If you were at this particular event you really need to monitor yourself for symptoms and go and get yourself tested and then quarantine yourself at home’.”

Farr emphasized that both of the new cases confirmed on Tuesday are quarantined and resting at home and there are no COVID hospitalizations in Missoula at this time.