Another COVID-19-related death in Hill County

Hill County Health Department reported Friday the county has suffered another COVID-19-related death, bringing the county to 50 deaths since the disease was first confirmed in Montana.

The update on the state tracking map this morning reports Montana has seen a total of 1,887 deaths so far.

That includes the Hill County total and 24 deaths in Blaine County, seven in Chouteau County and one in Liberty County.

The news comes as Pfizer announced this morning that tests have shown that the vaccine it and its German partner BioNTech developed is safe and effective in children ages 5-11, with plans to seek authorization by the end of the month from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to administer the vaccine to that age group.

The state and this region are in the midst of a major surge in the disease driven by the highly contagious delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The state tracking map update this morning showed 1,619 new cases in Montana with 9,721 active cases, 358 active hospitalizations and a total of 1,887 deaths in the state.

Hill County’s last update, Friday afternoon, reported 18 new confirmed cases along with the latest death. The county total of active cases Friday was 149 with six active hospitalizations.

The next update is scheduled for release today.

Blaine County reported Friday 14 new cases, 81 active, with no active hospitalizations listed.

It has had 1,072 total case.

The state tracking map this morning listed one new case confirmed for Chouteau County with 15 active, 187 total.

Liberty County had four new cases, the tracking map reported, with 24 active and 187 total.

Nationally, the tracking map at Johns Hopkins University reported today, more than 4 million new cases have been confirmed in the past 28 days in the United States, with 44,906 deaths in that time.

The nation has seen more than 42 million cases and 673,911 deaths since the pandemic hit the United States in early 2020.

The surge of COVID-19 cases has included a larger number of children needing to be hospitalized, with agencies reporting children being hospitalized for the disease in record numbers.

The surge also is primarily impacting the unvaccinated. While breakthrough cases are occurring, the majority are in unvaccinated and the symptoms typically are milder in people who are vaccinated.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been fully authorized for use in people in the United States 16 and older, and has emergency-use authorization for people 12 to 15.

If the vaccine is approved for children 5 to 11, that will be the first U.S. authorization for people younger than 12.

The Moderna vaccine has emergency use authorization for people 18 and older, as does the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.

Studies are underway for use in Johnson & Johnson and Moderna’s vaccine in younger children as well as studies by Pfizer for using its vaccine in children ages 6 months to 5 years.

Studies also indicate that the delta variant, is more likely to be spread by vaccinated people than previous variants were, leading to the recommendation that all people, vaccinated and unvaccinated, wear masks when indoors in public areas to reduce the spread of the virus.

But vaccinated people still are less likely than unvaccinated people to spread even the delta variant.

During this surge, health officials have continued their message basically from the start of the pandemic.

People should stay home if they don’t feel well, the officials say, should regularly wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with soap or with a hand sanitizer including at least 60 percent alcohol, should regularly wash and sanitize surfaces, should wear a mask when in indoor public spaces, and anyone who can should get vaccinated.

In Hill County, vaccinations are available through Bullhook Community Health Center, 406-395-4305; the Hill County Health Department, 406-400-2415; Northern Montana Health Care’s Specialty Medical Center at 406-265-7831 or its family Family Medical Center at 406-265-5408; Western Drug Pharmacy, 406-265-9601; Gary & Leo’s Pharmacy, which takes walk-ins; Walmart; and the Rocky Boy Health Center, 406-395-1655.

Vaccinations are available in Blaine County through Blaine County Health Department, 406-357-2345, and Fort Belknap Health Center, 406-353-3219.

Vaccine is available in Chouteau County at the Chouteau County Health Department, 406-622-3771, and Big Sandy Pharmacy at 406-378-5588.

People can call Liberty County Health Department at 406-759-5517 to schedule a vaccination.