BILLINGS — Yellowstone County health officials Friday reported the death of another Yellowstone County resident from COVID-19.
RiverStone Health said in a press release that on Jan. 5 a woman in her 70s died at a Billings hospital.
So far, 169 Yellowstone County people have died from COVID-19 illness, including four who died in January, the county health agency said.
“Our hearts go out to console the family and friends of this Yellowstone County resident,” said John Felton, Yellowstone County public health officer and RiverStone Health CEO.
Yellowstone County is still seeing new cases of COVID-19 every day, the agency said, and local hospitals continue to care for dozens of COVID-19 patients, including critically ill patients who cannot breathe on their own.
The COVID-19 vaccine supplies that have arrived in Yellowstone County aren’t sufficient to vaccinate everyone. In Yellowstone County, the limited supplies are now being used to vaccinate the 1A priority group: healthcare workers, first responders and residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
The health agency said it does not yet know when more vaccine will arrive in Yellowstone County to begin vaccinating people in the 1B priority group, including people age 70 and older and younger adults with certain serious health conditions, Native Americans and other people of color who are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness.
At least 14,403 Yellowstone County residents have been infected with COVID-19 to date, according to RiverStone Health records.