Public health programs under assault in Montana and nationally helenair.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from helenair.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ravalli County Reduces Quarantine Times
Ravalli County Public Health has reduced quarantine times for many who have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Director Tiffany Webber. In her April 12 news release, Webber said that County Health Officer Dr. Carol Calderwood has approved adoption of two reduced times provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Of course, the original 14-day quarantine is still the best way to stop the spread of the disease. But, Webber and Calderwood say, since the COVID numbers have remained steady in Ravalli County, the two reduced quarantine times are now offered.
From the news release:
Ravalli County Public Health Recommends Masks
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte rescinded the statewide mask mandate last week. That left local cities and businesses to do their own guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic as far as wearing masks. Missoula County has continued their public mask mandate, but Ravalli County officially is following the state rules of no mandate.
Even so, the Public Health officials are recommending that you continue wearing the masks. Yesterday, a statement was issued by Ravalli County Public Health Officer Dr. Carol Calderwood:
Hang tough and continue the good job you are doing, citizens of Ravalli County! Masking is still one very important tool for us all to protect each other, decrease spread to the most vulnerable, and to keep businesses and schools open.
Editor s Note
This story was compiled almost completely from the reporting of Lee Montana newspapersâ staff over the past nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It started the way most Montana storms do, signs of trouble coming on the west wind.
On Leap Day, Saturday, Feb. 29, Washington state reported the countryâs first COVID-19 death, the first healthcare worker infected, and the first known outbreak in a care facility.
By early March, a few Montanans began to worry. Many others paid scant attention to the gathering storm.
Indeed, some battle lines were already being drawn.
Four Western Montana Republican legislators attended the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., where a New Jersey doctor who had paid big money to attend VIP events, snapping selfies with big-name attendees including Ted Cruz, tested positive for the virus.