U.S. health team arrives to help as virus surges in Montana

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — As COVID-19 cases in Montana continue to surge, the state's chief epidemiologist said the spread of the coronavirus has stressed medical services in the state to the brink, and he predicted the situation will get worse as winter sets in.

“We’re kind of preparing for the worst here,” Jim Murphy told The Associated Press. “We have pretty spooky numbers for COVID, going into a fall respiratory season. It’s not a position that anybody would like to be in.”

Murphy said the increase in cases across the state has led to a shortage in health care workers, in addition to a shortage in hospital beds.

“You can have a lot of beds. But if you don’t have the staff to support those beds, that’s a problem,” he said.

U.S. officials have dispatched a team of nearly 30 physicians, nurses, paramedics and other health care workers to Montana's largest city to address a surge in COVID-19 cases that's straining health systems statewide.

The National Disaster Medical System team arrived Friday and will work in Billings for two weeks, The Billings Gazette reported.

That comes as hospitals in many parts of the state are nearing full occupancy. Hospitals in Billings, Helena and Butte have at least 90% of their beds occupied, according to a status report posted Tuesday by state health officials.

The federal health care team will work from Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare. The Billings hospitals each have more COVID cases than any other hospital in the state and were treating a combined 127 COVID patients, the Department of Public Health and Human Services reported.

The two hospitals serve much of eastern and central Montana, as well as areas of Wyoming.

Statewide, 500 people were hospitalized with COVID, according to state officials.

While Gov. Steve Bullock has stopped short of issuing additional statewide health orders, local officials have taken up his calls for stricter mandates in regions seeing large outbreaks.

The Butte-Silver Bow health department announced on Tuesday new regulations on businesses and gatherings, the Montana Standard reported.

Businesses will be limited at 50% capacity, gatherings and events of more than 25 people must be reviewed in advance by the health department, and alcohol service at bars, casinos, and other like establishments must stop at 10 p.m.

On the same day, Great Falls public schools announced they would be closed for in-person learning for two weeks because of the high rate of COVID-19 cases among students and faculty, the Great Falls Tribune reported.

State health officials reported 928 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state's total number of known cases to over 42,000. That's almost 4% of Montana's population.

The total number of infections is likely much higher because not everyone shows symptoms.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.