COVID-19 cases rise sharply in county

Lincoln County saw a jump in confirmed novel coronavirus cases over the weekend.

Health officials announced 19 additional cases of the novel coronavirus on July 12. That brought the number of known active cases in Lincoln County to 26. Overall, 33 local residents have tested positive for the virus since March.

Sunday’s slew of confirmations marked the single largest daily increase in cases locally since the pandemic began. Officials said in a press release that 18 of the cases were linked to a COVID-19 cluster in the Libby area.

According to the release, 11 of the individuals are male and eight female. Four are under 20 years-old, six are in their 20s, five are in their 40s, two are in their 50s, one is in their 70s and one is in their 80s. Twelve of the cases are symptomatic and seven are considered asymptomatic, presymptomatic or unknown. Eighteen of the newly reported cases are considered part of the Libby cluster and one is from an out-of-state visitor.

Contact tracing efforts remain underway. Health department officials urge vulnerable residents to stay at home and remind those who frequent public spaces to wear masks and wash their hands frequently.

“We haven’t been able to nail down an event,” said Public Health Manager Jennifer McCully in reference to the origin of the new cases.

McCully and Public Health Nurse Trista Gilmore held a Facebook Live event July 10 to answer questions from residents about the presence of COVID-19 in Lincoln County. The event followed an announcement on the health department’s Facebook page that a 50-year-old male had tested positive for the virus.

McCully said the health department held the event to allow people to ask questions about contact tracing methods.

During the question and answer session, McCully said she believed that most of the five active cases known in Lincoln County at the time were related but that there was not enough data to confirm it. As part of a large-scale initiative, at least three different entities conducted over 240 tests in Libby on July 9, according to Gilmore. Health department officials should hopefully have the results of these tests and a better understanding of the situation by early next week, said McCully.

While McCully and Gilmore would not identify the man who recently tested positive for the virus, McCully said he had “quite a bit of community involvement.” As part of a contact tracing investigation, health department officials had interviewed the carrier to determine who he had been in close proximity to up to 48 hours before the onset of his symptoms.

“We really go step by step with them,” said Gilmore referring to the detailed questions health officials ask known carriers when building a contact list.

Reaching out to and testing these contacts immediately is important to containing the spread of COVID-19, said McCully.

Health officials are mostly concerned with people who have spent 15 minutes or longer within six feet of a known carrier since that’s how most cases of transmission occur, said McCully. Although it is still possible for a person to pass the virus on during short interactions at gas stations or in grocery stores, these modes of transmission are less common.

Even in cases where the virus was suspected to have spread during a large event, health officials will only contact those who have been near the infected person. McCully said there is currently no public health reason to identify the events.

If residents suspect that they have been exposed at an event, McCully said they should get in contact with the public health department.

Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle pain, shortness of breath and loss of taste or smell. COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for adults aged 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, the CDC has reported more than 3 million cases.

McCully and Gilmore recommended that the public follow guidelines set by the CDC and wear masks. Concerned residents can call the county’s dedicated hotline at 406-293-6295.