Governor Steve Bullock hosted a press call to provide an update on the four individual cases of novel coronavirus. According to the Governor, all four patients are in their homes in isolation, recovering.
We now know where the patients made contact with the virus.
The Gallatin County male in his 40s and the Yellowstone County female in her 50’s caught the virus on international travel. Governor Bullock did not specify an exact location.
However, the Silver Bow County and Broadwater County males in their 50s caught the virus while in Washington state.
“We have to recognize that, those over 70, those that are medically frail, Those are the once most susceptible to mortality,” says Governor Bullock.
The Governor said that the Montana State Lab will now be testing 7 days a week starting Monday, March 16th, with new results coming out daily. Governor Bullock encourages all Montanans to help combat the virus, especially with the elderly.
“More than anything, when we look at both the contagion and its spread, we gotta take of our legacy Montanans, our older Montanans in each and every step,” says Governor Bullock.
Bullock's executive order declaring state of emergency has been amended to align the timeline of the federal state of emergency, meaning that the state’s emergency response is active as long as federal authorities believe that there is a continuing threat.
The state says it has about a capacity of 850 lab tests with more expected from the Centers for Disease Control.
