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Montana COVID-19 cases rise to 184 Tuesday morning, March 31

Posted at 8:00 AM, Mar 31, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-31 14:12:26-04

According to the Montana Response COVID-19 tracking map, Montana confirms 184 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday morning, including two new cases in Yellowstone County.

This number may change due to counties reporting final numbers to the state. The state initially reported the new total as 185, then revised the number to 184.

The previously reported statewide total Monday afternoon was 177.

There have been 4 deaths in Montana due to COVID-19.

New cases of the virus are also reported in Cascade County (1), Deer Lodge County (1), Flathead County (2), Gallatin County (2), Lincoln County (1), Madison County (2), Park County (1), and Silver Bow County (1).

There are currently 14 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the state.

Montana is currently under a "stay-at-home" order due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Public health officials know that the number of cases is likely substantially higher than the number of confirmed cases. As of Monday afternoon, the public health laboratory in Helena has completed 4,411 tests.

The "recovery rate" for Montana has not yet been determined, as COVID-19 is still relatively new in our state and there is not enough data to calculate an accurate rate at this point.

  • NOTE: Some confirmed cases are being re-assigned to other counties - for instance, a Glacier County case was re-assigned to Toole County, because the patient was tested and treated in Glacier County (Cut Bank), but actually lives in Toole County. That has happened in several cases. We know that it can be confusing - we are trying to keep things as accurate as possible as the situation changes.

"STAY HOME" ORDER: Governor Steve Bullock on Thursday afternoon issued a directive requiring Montanans to stay home and temporarily closes all nonessential businesses and operations as efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) continue. The order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 28. Click here for complete details.

The order will be in effect through Friday, April 10, and requires all businesses and operations in Montana, except for essential businesses and operations as defined in the directive, to stop all activities within the state. The Directive also prohibits all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a household or place of residence.

The order does not prohibit restaurants from continuing to offer take-out, curb-side, and delivery service.

Employees who are not sure if they are considered essential should talk with their manager/business owner. Business owners with questions can call at 1-800-755-6672 and leave messages 24-hours a day and will receive a prompt response, according to Bullock. *CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THE DIRECTIVE*