On the evening of Tuesday, September 22nd, Powder River Public Health announced that four PR County residents had tested positive for COVID-19, two of which were staff members at Broadus Schools, one a male age 20-29, and the other a female age 40-49. Additionally, a male and female, both age 60-69, were added to the PR County count – they had originally been counted in a different MT county where they also maintained a residence.
With the increase in case load, PR County met the four active case threshold for Governor Bullock’s mask mandate, which requires wearing a face mask in public indoor spaces and at large outdoor gatherings.
That same evening, Broadus Schools announced that due to the two positive tests of High School staff members, the High School would revert to online instruction effective immediately, and continuing until October 2nd, citing board policies enacted earlier this year. A number of junior high and high school students were exposed to the staff members who tested positive, and were also put on quarantine. Homecoming was postponed, and later rescheduled for the week of October 19th through the 24th.
On Wednesday, September 23rd, an additional three individuals tested positive; females age 20-29, 30-39, and 50-59. All three cases were symptomatic, according to PR Public Health. Two of those individuals were off duty PR Manor staff, which meant protective protocols were initiated at PR Manor, including shut down of visitation.
Friday, September 25th, an additional two cases were added, bringing the total to nine active cases as of that date. These were both females, one age 20-29, which was a close contact of a previous positive case, and the other age 60-69 year old symptomatic case.
That evening, an emergency meeting of the Broadus School Board Trustees took place at the auditorium. A number of impassioned parents spoke in favor of going back to school, with comments from the board trustees in agreement. The board ultimately voted to allow non-quarantined students to return to normal in-person instruction, effective Monday, September 28th.
On Sunday, September 27th, a 20-29 year old staff member at Broadus Elementary tested positive for COVID-19. A limited number of students were exposed to the staff member, per info from Broadus Schools, and in-person learning will continue for non-quarantined students.
Over the weekend, a 90-99 year old PR County female resident tested positive for COVID-19, as well as a 30-39 year old female, and a male and female age 70-79.
With information changing at a frenetic pace, please keep an eye on the Powder River Public Health Facebook page for the most up to date information. We urged the County Commissioners to update the county website with the information as well, for those who are not on Facebook.
Please check out Powder River County Health Officer Sean Hill’s article in this issue for more information.
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