Flathead’s COVID death toll rises to 19

The Flathead City-County Health Department announced Wednesday that three more individuals have died from COVID-19, bringing Flathead County’s total death toll to 19.

According to health department officials, two of the recent deaths are associated with a long-term care facility and the other with an assisted-living facility.

The names of the facilities were not released. However, as of Wednesday, 13 of the valley’s 19 deaths are associated with a recent outbreak at the Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center and one is associated with the Skilled Care Center and Retreat of Immanuel Lutheran Communities. It is unclear whether the deaths reported by the health department on Wednesday are associated with those two facilities.

Also on Wednesday, Montana reported a record-breaking 348 new cases. According to the state’s COVID-19 Task Force, Montana has seen more than 13,000 positive cases since the start of the state’s outbreak, with 180 of those ending in deaths.

Yellowstone County has the most active cases in the state at 906, followed by Flathead County at 519 and Missoula County at 341.

Other areas with a high number of active cases include Roosevelt, Cascade and Glacier counties.

The cases in Glacier are largely associated with a COVID-19 outbreak on the Blackfeet Reservation. The tribe’s incident command group announced on Facebook that as of Tuesday, there were 191 active cases on the reservation — a number that has dramatically increased in the last two weeks and recently prompted a reservation-wide mandatory 14-day shutdown.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com