The county added 366 new COVID cases over the last week, bringing the cumulative total to 15,540, according to this week’s update from the Cascade County City-County Health Department.

The case rate came down this week to 64.3 per 100,000, the lowest in about two months, according to CCHD.

The positivity rate remains high at 15.4 percent, according to CCHD.

DPHHS report finds COVID as third leading cause of death in Montana

Over the last week, there were eight confirmed COVID-related deaths, six of whom were unvaccinated, but all had underlying health conditions, according to CCHD.

Of the eight, six were male, two were female and the age breakdown was:

• 2 age 40-49
• 2 age 60-69,
• 1 age 70-79,
• 1 age 80-89 (fully vaccinated)
• 2 age 90-99 (one of whom was fully vaccinated)

Of the new cases this week, 80.3 percent were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, according to CCHD.

County adds 642 new COVID cases; case rate is 112.7 per 100,000 [Oct. 27, 2021]

The age breakdown for the new cases this week, according to CCHD, is:

• 0-9: 45 or 12.3 percent of new cases
• 10-19: 46 or 12.57 percent of new cases
• 20-29: 52 or 14.21 percent of new cases
• 30-39: 58 or 15.85 percent of new cases
• 40-49: 49 or 13.39 percent of new cases
• 50-59: 36 or 9.84 percent of new cases
• 60-69: 36 or 9.84 percent of new cases
• 70-79: 23 or 6.28 percent of new cases
• 80+: 21 or 5.74 percent of new cases

There were 73 new breakthrough cases over the last week, bringing the total to 1,019 since February.

Breakthrough cases are those when a fully vaccinated person tests positive for COVID-19. A person is considered fully vaccinated when they have the full series of the vaccine, which is two doses for Pfizer and Moderna, one for Johnson and Johnson.

Cascade County adds 459 new COVID cases this week

According to the state, 75,007 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the county and 34,733, or 50 percent of the eligible population, is fully vaccinated.

Trisha Gardner, county health officer, told the county health board during their regular Nov. 3 meeting that she expects that number to increase now that approval has been granted to vaccinate those ages 5-11.

She said she expects that CCHD will be able to start vaccinating that age group as soon as next week. She said the dosage for those children is slightly different than that for adults.

As of Nov. 1, there were 27 COVID patients hospitalized at Benefis Health System, of those seven were vaccinated.

Eleven of those patients were in the ICU and one of them was vaccinated, according to Benefis. Ten COVID patients were on ventilators and of those one was vaccinated, according to Benefis.

According to state data, there were four COVID patients hospitalized at the Great Falls Clinic as of Nov. 1.

As of Oct. 29, there were 67 active COVID cases within the Great Falls Public Schools district.

The district updates their COVID numbers on Fridays.

The hospitals update their numbers on Mondays and the health department updates their numbers on Wednesdays.

Nov. 2 was the Department of the Air Force’s deadline for active duty members to get vaccinated. As of Nov. 3, the Air Force said that 95.9 percent are fully vaccinated and 96.9 percent have gotten at least one shot.

The Air Force set the first deadline for members to be vaccinated.

The vaccination deadline for the Air National Guard and Reserve is Dec. 2.

According to the Air Force, 800 airmen have refused the vaccine and 8,486 have not yet been vaccinated.

The Air Force is reviewing the 4,933 religious exemption requests in progress by Dec. 2 and zero had yet been approved. The service said 1,634 medical exemptions have already been approved. Another 232 administrative exemptions were granted, according to the Air Force.

Airmen who do not get vaccinated or an approved exemption will face disciplinary action, according to the Air Force.

This sets thousands of disciplinary actions in motion and sets the stage for exemption procedures that could drag on for weeks.

The vaccination deadline for the Air Guard and Reserve is Dec. 2.

Benefis will begin holding pediatric COVID vaccine clinics for those ages 5-11 evern Wednesday from 3-7 p.m. beginning Nov. 10 through Dec. 8 at Benefis Pediatrics, 1300 28th St. S., Medical Office Building 11, Floor 2, Suite 6.

Appointments are required and need to be made online at Benefis.org/covidvaccine. There is no cost to receive the vaccine.

Please note:

• If you need to schedule multiple family members, you will need to schedule each person individually.
• Keep an eye out for an email containing a questionnaire to complete beforehand to help keep things moving the day of the clinic.
• An appointment for your second dose will be made at the time of your first shot
• COVID-19 vaccines will not be available during routine pediatrician appointments.