coronavirus

Four weeks – 28 days – since the first local COVID-19 case, and the pandemic is set to peak in this area in a little over two weeks.

All motels, hotels, guest ranches, RV sites, camping, short term rentals, and guiding and outfitting services must cancel reservations for nonessential purposes on or before April 30. The Madison County Board of Public Health signed the order Thursday night. 

Sewers of Madison County have mobilized in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began advising the public to wear face coverings in public settings where social distancing is hard to maintain, like at the grocery store. Simple masks can be made at home using cloth sewn into a particular pattern.

Gatherings in a hot spring off of the Jefferson River has become a public safety concern.

Two more people tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Madison County over the weekend. As of the April 7, there are 319 confirmed cases of the virus in Montana. Eight Madison County residents have contracted the virus. A ninth person tested positive in a Madison County facility but is a resident to a neighboring county.

Madison County schools have been closed for three weeks due to the coronavirus. Gov. Steve Bullock extended the closures to April 24 on Tuesday.

“Today I will be extending the directive to stay at home for an additional two weeks through April 24,” Gov. Steve Bullock said in an April 7 press call.  All previous directives fall in line with the April 24 extension.

Social distancing refers to physically distancing from others, but it does not have to hinder communication.