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Toole County hit hard by COVID-19

HOLLY K. MICHELS 9 hrs ago



U.S. Highway 2 bends around grain bins between Shelby and Chester in Toole County, which has seen three of Montana's five deaths due to COVID-19 as of April 1.

KURT WILSON/Missoulian

The coronavirus has killed three of the six people confirmed to have the virus in rural Toole County, an especially deadly tally at least partially tied to the state's first outbreak in an assisted living facility.

The small county in northern Montana has a population of about 4,800 but accounts for three-fifths of the state's five total deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Statewide 217 people have been sickened and at least 32 have recovered, while 19 have been hospitalized.

COVID-19 hits those who are older or have existing health conditions hardest. Toole County reported its first case of the virus March 25. That was 79-year-old Bev Rogers, whose family said she died four days later.

In the Cut Bank Pioneer Press newspaper, the family wrote that Rogers had been a resident of the Marias Heritage Center, a 38-bed retirement and assisted living facility under the umbrella of the Marias Medical Center, the county hospital.

"When she was living at your facility, she would mention you each by name and brag about how well you cared for her. You had concern for her until the end," the family wrote in the paper.

On March 27, two days after Rogers' positive test for COVID-19 was reported, the Marias Medical Center posted a press release to its Facebook page saying the county had confirmed additional COVID-19 cases that included employees at the Marias Heritage Center. The release did not say how many employees were ill.

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