Local health-care officials are urging the public to practice aggressive public health safety measures as COVID-19 cases in Flathead County continue to explode, contributing significantly to the area’s hospitalization numbers and COVID-19-related fatalities.

On Tuesday, Montana’s COVID-19 Task Force reported a record-breaking 124 new cases in Flathead County, pushing the county’s total active case count to 846. The county has the second-highest active case count in the state, tailing Yellowstone County, which has 1,021.

In the past two weeks alone, 722 new lab-confirmed cases were reported in Flathead County, according to the Flathead City-County Health Department. That is in addition to the two additional COVID-19-related deaths confirmed last weekend, which brought the county’s death toll to 19, the majority of which are associated with a recent outbreak at a long-term care facility.

In a prepared statement, Interim Public Health Officer Tamalee St. James Robinson urged residents to do their part in helping control the virus while also suggesting business shutdowns might be looming.

“We are seeing a surge of new cases and these are putting a strain on our health-care system as well as our public health investigation team. If we as a community do not step up to take action to prevent the spread of COVID-19, additional control measures will need to be implemented,” Robinson stated.

Although she did not elaborate on what sort of control measures might go into effect should cases continue to surge, Robinson said “we want our businesses and schools to remain open. We have to see a change in the direction COVID-19 is heading in our community. It is up to all of us to stop the spread.”

The health department’s capacity indicators for the virus, which are publicly available on its website, show Flathead County is functioning at critical levels in four categories, including community concern, investigation capacity by health department personnel and hospitalizations.

Doug Nelson, chief medical officer for Kalispell Regional Healthcare, stressed that the valley’s burgeoning case load should not be taken lightly.

“There is no question that we have rampant community spread right now. There are people you are seeing everywhere you go that are COVID-positive who may not know it yet,” Nelson said on Tuesday. “We are all tired of this virus and are tired of distancing and wearing masks, but it is more important now than ever to practice public-health measures.”

The hospital has been caring for 15 to 20 positive patients at a time for the past two weeks.

Since the start of the pandemic, Kalispell Regional has dedicated an isolated 12-bed unit in the main hospital to COVID-19 patients. But with current patient loads exceeding that area’s capacity, patients have started occupying an adjacent 16-bed unit as well. And according to Nelson, if that unit also hits capacity, there is another 20-bed area nearby that can be utilized.

“We have a progressive plan in place to use each of these spaces if need be,” said Nelson, who emphasized that part of this plan is to make sure each unit is appropriately staffed.

BEYOND THE main hospital, Kalispell Regional also has a temporary 100-bed facility located on the undeveloped third floor of Montana Children’s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction on the facility in late May.

Should the region experience a mass outbreak that brings COVID-19-positive patients to the main hospital at Kalispell Regional, the temporary facility will be used to house negative patients in need of care beyond the COVID-19 arena.

Nelson said this facility has yet to be utilized by Kalispell Regional and at this time, the hospital is fully functioning and is able to offer all other services.

He also said that although the hospital is taking in more COVID-19 patients than ever — including some from surrounding areas — not all of those patients arrive in critical condition. About 10% of those who enter the hospital need to be placed on a ventilator, he said, while the others have been “on medical status, but have not been critically ill.”

Although Nelson said the majority of patients have been able to be treated in a timely manner, he did express concerns related to the upcoming influenza season and stressed that the valley’s current trend in COVID-19 cases will not bode well with an influx in flu cases.

“The current rise in COVID in our area is really concerning. If we add the flu on top of that, the hospital will have some major issues,” Nelson said. “We need everyone right now to be washing your hands, distancing, wearing your masks. We all have the power to change the course of this virus.”

Kalispell Regional Healthcare and the Flathead City-County Health Department offer guidelines on their websites for how to best protect yourself and your community from COVID-19.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com