GREAT FALLS — The City-Health Department in Great Falls announced on Friday that a Cascade County resident has died due to COVID-19.
This is the first COVID-19-related death in Cascade County; there have been 13 confirmed cases in Cascade County, and the CCHD said several days ago that eight of those patients have recovered.
The person was a woman over the age of 65, according to the CCHD; no other details will be released, according to the CCHD, due to patient privacy laws.
CCHD health officer Trisha Gardner said in a news release, "Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the patient's family and loved ones. We want to remind our community about the importance of staying at home, and we urge you to continue being vigilant and supportive of each other as we all work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect each other, especially the most vulnerable."
As of Friday, there have been a total of 422 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Montana, an increase of seven since Wednesday.
Including the Cascade County case, there have now been nine deaths to date in Montana. There have been four deaths in Toole County, and one each in Lincoln County, Madison County, Missoula County, Flathead County, and Cascade County.
There have now been 54 hospitalizations to date of COVID-19 patients in Montana; 21 of those are considered "active (current) hospitalizations." There have been a total of 233 recovered patients to date. The DPHHS public health lab has completed 10,244 tests for COVID-19, including 308 tests since Thursday's update.
Governor Steve Bullock has scheduled a news conference at 2:00 pm on Friday to provide an update on Montana's response to COVID-19.