Evidence of community spread emerges in Flathead County

Community spread of the coronavirus has officially been documented in Flathead County, according to a Tuesday press release from the Flathead City-County Health Department.

Within the last few days, the health department has received six cases where officials have been unable to find any known contact or exposure with a positive case and have not been able to relate the cases to travel.

“These cases indicate that there is evidence of community transmission in Flathead County,” said Hillary Hanson, health officer with the Flathead City-County Health Department and incident commander for the coronavirus outbreak.

Community spread, as opposed to person-to-person contact, has been detected in other areas as well, including Gallatin and Missoula counties.

Five additional cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Flathead County on Monday, bringing the county’s total to 31 cases. According to the press release, the health department’s communicable disease team “has been in touch with all of these cases and are currently conducting contact investigations to minimize additional transmission.” All patients have been isolated and those who had close contacts with the patients have been quarantined.

For more information on Flathead County and the coronavirus go to hhtps://www.flatheadhealth.org/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/