COVID-19 Cases Low Among Montana School Kids

New data just released from the Montana Department of Health & Human Services shows very little COVID-19 spread among students. On Wednesday, Governor Steve Bullock announced that school COVID-19 numbers will now be released weekly by the DPHHS.

The first round of numbers shows only 68 kids in the state's public schools have tested positive for the coronavirus as of September 16, 2020. There are about 147,000 students K-12 currently enrolled for the 2020-21 school year.

That translates to 0.04% of students with COVID-19 in the state of Montana. Locally, there have been no positive COVID-19 cases reported in Gallatin Valley schools this new school year.

There are nearly 500 school districts in Montana. The state's COVID-19 data shows 60 schools have had at least one case of the virus. Yellowstone County, which encompasses the Billings Public Schools, has been hit the hardest with 22 reported cases. It should be noted that the school district is home to over 11,000 students.

There have been 141 positive cases of COVID-19 in Gallatin County in the 0-19 age group, according to the health department's coronavirus data, which is updated daily on their website. That's about 12% of the county's total number of COVID-19 cases that today, September 17, sits at 1,207.

Montana's state health department lists Montana State University with 41 positive tests for COVID-19 since the semester began on August 17th.

Across the state of Montana, 1,401 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in ages 0-19, according to the health department. That's 14.5% of the total cases, which currently is 9,647.

Kids in Bozeman returned to their classrooms last week, albeit a blended method with the kids only in the classroom for two days a week. The school board announced that they will re-consider allowing kids to attend school full-time at their Monday meeting. If approved, it will reportedly take them 3-4 weeks to get back to a regular school schedule.