The Blaine County Health Department and the Blaine County Incident Command is providing this as an educational reminder regarding the wearing of face masks. With the rising numbers in Blaine County, we are reaching out to our partners across the County to help us spread the word that the only way we are going to slow the spread of Covid-19, will be for community members to do their part. Under the Governor’s current directive, persons in counties with four or more active Covid-19 cases are required to wear a mask in public settings when social distancing is not practical with few exceptions. Per the Governor’s Mandate – Along with local businesses, masks are mandatory in Government offices. Mask up folks!

Why a mask you may ask? Despite the contradictory information concerning masks and their effectiveness that was disseminated early on during the pandemic (hey, even the experts have a learning curve), the fact remains that masks, hand washing and limiting social contacts are the only practical measures everyone can take to limit the spread of Covid-19. It is a simple fact that in areas where these measures are taken, disease spread is limited.

Blaine County started out with good compliance early in the mask mandate and our case numbers remained low. However as “Covid Fatigue” has set in lowering the rate of mask compliance combined with mandate push-back, our numbers are now rapidly overtaking local public and private sector health professional’s ability to keep up.

Masks work. Period.

Please wear them for your health and that of your friends, family and co-workers. The current trend in cases & close contacts we are seeing in Blaine County are associated with workplaces & social gatherings.

A mask may not keep you from being named a contact and requiring you to be quarantined. It may however be the only measure you can take to keep you from getting sick and passing it on to others.

At this time, the state of Montana is considered a hot spot for rising Covid-19 cases. Montana currently ranks third highest in the nation for new cases, and second highest for positivity rates. Even though we all know this is frustrating, we’re counting on you to do your part to help slow the spreading of this virus. Thank you for helping us slow the spread of this virus and protecting our vulnerable populations!