Flathead County Commissioners and the Flathead City-County Board of Health are urging all businesses in Flathead County to modify their daily operations.

The county issued the request Tuesday morning that includes asking restaurants, bars, and casinos to begin immediate preparations in response to the coronavirus.

“While there are still no confirmed cases in Flathead County, we recognize that across the nation and Montana bold steps will need to be implemented to protect the health of the public. There may be no warning for the implementation of control measures and so it is vital that every business begin planning and implementing alternate ways of doing business immediately,” said Tamalee St. James Robinson, the Chair of the Flathead City-County Board of Health.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on March 12 declared a state of emergency for the state related to the coronavirus. As of presstime, no cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed in Flathead County and nine people in the state had tested positive for the virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines this week urging Americans to limit social gathers to no more than 10 people.

Many Whitefish restaurants on Monday had already switched to carry-out only service for meals and beverages, and some said they would close for a period of time in response to recommendations that people not gather together.

According to the county, the following options should be considered by businesses to ensure social distancing:

- Close any areas where large groups could congregate or will be in close vicinity to each other (e.g. meeting rooms and dining rooms)

- Move to alternate ways of providing food services such as take-out, delivery, drive-thru

- Alter walk-in and face to face services to be provided by phone

- Move meetings to be done virtually

- Allow employees to work remotely

- Reconstruct offices to distance employees

- Encourage employees not to come in if they are ill

- Look into online services such as banking, local livestream workouts, local online shopping

Flathead County has already begun changes in its operations in response.

“Flathead County has begun this work through the closure of congregate meals at the Agency on Aging, the cancellation of events at the Fairgrounds and the move to phone services instead of walk-in services at Environmental Health,” said County Administrator Mike Pence. “We urge other businesses to take similar steps.”

More information is available on the Flathead City-County Health Department webpage at https://flatheadhealth.org/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/, or by calling FCCHD at 406-751-8188.