Coronavirus cases jump

Cases of the novel coronavirus jumped in Lincoln County over the weekend.

County health department staff confirmed two cases on Friday: A symptomatic man in his 60s and a symptomatic woman in her 40s. Officials did not immediately know how either resident contracted the virus.

Another five cases were confirmed on Saturday. One, a symptomatic man in his 20s, was in close contact with a known case. Another, a symptomatic man in his 60s, had traveled out of state.

How the other three — a man in his 60s, a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 70s — contracted the virus remains unknown.

On Sunday, officials confirmed four more cases: a woman in her 30s, a woman in her 70s, a woman under the age of 19 and a man in his 60s. Three were exposed to the virus by a known positive. The 30-something woman was listed as an unknown exposure.

The surge of new confirmations brings active cases in the county to 18, health officials said. Still, there are no new hospitalizations in the county.

While the increase in unknown exposures is worrisome, Public Health Manager Jennifer McCully said officials are not yet deeming the virus at the community spread level. Community spread means officials can no longer trace new patients back to the source of infection and indicates the virus is circulating widely in the county.

"We definitely could be headed there, but we haven’t had enough [cases] to state community spread," McCully said.

Many of the newly confirmed coronavirus patients are members of the same family, McCully said. A few were exposed while traveling in Flathead County, she said.

Since the pandemic began, Lincoln County has seen 121 cases of COVID-19. Of those, nine have been hospitalized and three have died. While the coronavirus is particularly dangerous to vulnerable populations, including those suffering from underlying health conditions, most people recover from the illness