BILLINGS — Yellowstone County added four new COVID-19-related deaths to its toll Tuesday.
Three of the deaths happened within the last few days, and the fourth occurred in October but was added after a review of the death certificate, according to RiverStone Health.
The three recent deaths included a man in his 50s who died Monday in the hospital, a man in his 80s who died Monday in a hospital and a woman in her 80s who died Saturday in an assisted living facility in Yellowstone County.
The fourth death was a woman in her 80s who died Oct. 30 in a Yellowstone County assisted-living facility.
Yellowstone County has had 154 residents who died of COVID-related illness since the pandemic arrived, including 19 people who died this month, according to RiverStone.
Here's the full news release from RiverStone:
Billings, MT – RiverStone Health, Yellowstone County’s public health department, reports the death of four more Yellowstone County residents from COVID-19 related illness.
On Monday, December 21, a man in his 50s died in a Billings hospital.
On Monday, December 21, a man in his 80s died in a Billings hospital.
On Saturday, December 19, a woman in her 80s died in an assisted living facility in Yellowstone County.
On October 30, a woman in her 80s died at an assisted living facility in Yellowstone County. Her death was added to our COVID-19 reports this week after a review of the death certificate.
Yellowstone County has had 154 residents who died of COVID-related illness since the pandemic arrived, including 19 people who died this month.
“As concerned citizens, we grieve with the families of these men and women,” said John Felton, Yellowstone County public health officer and RiverStone Health CEO. “While we wait for vaccines to become widely available, the best defense against more COVID-19 deaths is the proven precautions to slow the spread of the virus.”
RiverStone Health strongly encourages everyone in Yellowstone County to protect themselves, their friends, family and coworkers as they celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. Everyone is tired of pandemic precautions during this holiday season. But we must keep distancing from others, wearing masks, doing extra thorough handwashing, using hand sanitizer and staying home when sick. Doing all these things consistently reduces the virus spread.
To date, 13,308 Yellowstone County residents have been infected with COVID-19.
More information on the pandemic is online atcovid.riverstonehealth.org.