16 new COVID-19 cases in Phillips County

The Phillips County Health Department announced on Thursday night another 16 new positive cases of COVID-19 in the county, pushing the total active cases to 21.

Contact tracing and interviews are currently being conducted. None of the 21 positive cases have yet to recover.

The Billings Tribune on Thursday night also reported that the TC Energy, the Canadian company working on the Keystone XL oil pipeline in Phillips County, had two workers test positive for the COVID-19 virus on July 28.

The infected workers were in quarantine and not expected to return to the worksite, where construction is expected to wrap up in the coming days, the company said. TC Energy has started work on camps in Montana and South Dakota, but it's uncertain if all the camps will be built because of the pandemic, the Gazette reported.

The Phillips County News learned this morning that Saco School’s Open House that was planned for August 17 where parents would be made aware of how opening the school would proceed has been canceled Information on the 2020-2021 school year will be mailed to parents on August 12th. Parents of Saco students are encouraged to call the school at 527-3531 with any questions or concerns.

Malta Public Schools held a meeting last Wednesday to discuss how those schools would handling reopening but it was announced during the meeting that six positive COVID-19 cases in Phillips County had been confirmed. The Malta School Board will be hosting their August meeting on Wednesday, August 12 and the PCN will be reporting on how area schools will be handling re-opening considering the new COVID-19 cases in Phillips County.

A total of 173 new cases of COVID-19 in Montana were announced on Thursday, August 6, and another 155 on Friday which included the 17 new cases in Phillips County announced on Thursday. To date, there have been a total of 70 total deaths in the state of Montana. There is now a total of 4,757 active cases in Montana and 3,122 have recovered. There have been a total of 187,756 tests administered in Montana and a total of 264 hospitalizations, 84 people are currently hospitalized. Aside from Yellowstone County (533) and Big Horn County (255), Phillips County is the only county in Eastern Montana with over 20 active cases.