Gallatin County has high COVID-19 transmission | COVID-19 | bozemandailychronicle.com
Gallatin County is seeing high levels of community transmission of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gallatin County had 382 active cases on Friday. Six people were hospitalized, according to the health department. In total, 123 people have died in Gallatin County due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Montana added 1,961 new cases since last Friday. As of Friday, the state had 2,269 active cases.
Despite being at high transmission levels, according to CDC criteria, cases in Gallatin County have remained relatively steady over June. The county went from “medium” to “high” levels during the second week of June, and has maintained that status.
High transmission is characterized as a county having more than 200 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days and having over 10 new COVID-19 patients over seven days.
Medium transmission is characterized by a county having more than 200 new cases per 100,000 over the past seven days and having more than a certain number of COVID-19 patients admitted over the past seven days.
Gallatin County’s community transmission is in “high transmission,” with 262 cases per 100,000 and 26 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people over the past 7 days.
The CDC recommends people wear a mask in indoor public places, regardless of vaccination status, while community transmission levels are high.
The percentage of positive tests in Gallatin County was 17.9%, according to the health department’s report.
The report notes a percent positive rate of 10% or higher may indicate not enough testing is being done to catch all COVID-19 cases. The World Health Organization also recommends a percent positivity rate below 5% as a benchmark that adequate testing is being done.
In Gallatin County, the vaccination rate for those eligible — anyone 5 years old or older — remained unchanged at 64%, where it has hovered for over a month.
Gallatin County has the fifth highest vaccination rate in Montana behind Missoula, Deer Lodge, Silver Bow and Glacier counties.
As of Friday, the statewide vaccination rate stood at 55%. That’s below the national vaccination rate of 66%.
