POLSON — COVID-19 cases are rising in the Mission Valley with confirmed positive cases having more than doubled in Lake County since the beginning of July.
An additional eight cases were reported on the Montana Response COVID-19 tracking map on Saturday morning.
Health officials have seen an uptick in testing this past week at different sites across the county.
Lake County Health Services Director Emily Colomeda says Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Polson has more than doubled their testing output in the past week.
She attributes the recent up-tick in confirmed COVID-19 cases to those not practicing social distancing measures over the holiday weekend.
“I would say they’re most likely related to parties or events that happened over the holiday weekend, a lot of contacts to these cases are also infected, so that’s adding to the problem.”
Colomeda told MTN News that confirmed case numbers are expected to rise in Lake County due to close contacts who are currently quarantined.
Polson Mayor Paul Briney issued a directive Thursday strongly encouraging the use of masks in public settings.