Lewis and Clark Co. Low COVID-19 counts, high transmission rate

HELENA – On Friday, Lewis and Clark County reported just 6 new cases of COVID-19 and nine active cases of COVID-19. Cases are at their lowest levels in months in Lewis and Clark County and statewide.

Although COVID-19 cases in Lewis and Clark County are low, the rate of transmission remains high and the community level remains average.

The transmission rate examines the spread of COVID-19, positivity rates and weekly cases.

As new CDC community-level guidelines look at the number of hospital beds used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases to help determine preventative measures to take during low levels , moderate and high.

Over the past week, Lewis and Clark County had a total of 47 COVID-19 cases while last week had 80 total confirmed cases.

County Public Health says it is equipped for new variants with the testing and vaccination systems it has in place.

“It would be nothing new for us to attack if we have a new variant because we and the county have the tools to protect ourselves,” said Dorota Carpenedo, COVID-19 epidemiologist supervisor for Lewis and Clark Public Health.

Looking ahead to the new normal, public health says if they could guess what the future holds for COVID-19, it could become endemic.

“We will probably go to something similar with the flu, when winter comes we will have peaks and when the warmer months come we will probably go to lower levels, it’s not like covid went away, it will eventually become endemic,” Carpenedo said.

Public Health recommends masking up during high transmission rates, getting vaccinated, and keeping a safe distance.

You can find the daily public health update here.