COVID-19 tests given in Malta this week

Phillips County Health Department and the Phillips County Hospital and Family Health Clinic are partnering to offer free, drive-through COVID-19 testing on Thursday, July 9 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Milk River Pavilion parking lot.

A doctor's order is not required to participate, and the event is part of broader testing of asymptomatic people statewide to prevent community spread of the disease. The test is a molecular test, so unlike an antibody test, it will not tell if the person has had the virus previously, but will tell if the person has an active infection at the time of testing, the Health department reports. The event will end early if the 250 testing kits available are used up before 1 p.m.

As of Monday, July 6, there are a total of 548 active cases in the state of Montana, and Phillips County remains one of 16 counties with no confirmed cases (active or otherwise) according to the Montana State Library’s website montana.maps.arcgis.com. Of the 548 active cases, there are currently 20 hospitalizations and there has been a total of 23 deaths (out of 1,249 cumulative confirmed cases in Montana) with the largest active case amounts in Yellowstone County with 149, 83 active cases in Gallatin County, and 74 in Missoula County. On July 1, the State of Montana saw its largest spike since the pandemic started with a total of 67 cases.

In the United States, total cases of the COVID-19 total 2,886,267 as of July 6, resulting in 129,811 deaths, according to the CDC. California, New York City, Florida, Texas, New York State, and New Jersey all have over 170,000 confirmed cases (over 200,000 for California and NYC) and in the last seven days, Florida has reported 66,987 confirmed cases, California had 53,722, and Texas had 51,868.

Total tests reported in the USA is 36,255,888 with 3,282,484 positive tests, 9-percent overall according to preliminary data: Reported by U.S. Laboratories including Commercial and Reference, Public Health, and Hospital. (Totals may include antibody data from some states.)

COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly through close contact from person-to-person. Some people without symptoms may be able to spread the virus. We are still learning about how the virus spreads and the severity of illness it causes, the CDC says.

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about how this virus spreads.