As COVID-19 cases in Flathead County mount, creating an upswing in contact tracing and case monitoring work for health department personnel, officials with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services say case data discrepancies between the county and state should be expected.

Over the past week or so, new daily case numbers reported by the state and county have varied greatly. In some instances the state has reported Flathead County had only a few new positives, while the county’s virtual dashboard showed those daily figures were actually 30 or more some days.

The mismatched data was discussed at Thursday’s Board of Health meeting during which health department personnel explained there had been some issues with the case reporting system and that the department was prioritizing contact tracing.

Jon Ebelt, spokesman for the state health department, said in an email that the state is aware of the problem and is working with Flathead County to update the numbers, some of which include reconciling and confirming the county of residence for the cases.

“It’s important to remember that the first priority is to conduct contact tracing and begin investigations into the positive cases to minimize the spread of the virus,” Ebelt wrote. “That can slow down the reporting to the state map as we all must focus the resources where they are needed most. The investigations are the highest priority, ahead of reporting the numbers to the state.”

Ebelt said if there are days when the number of active cases between the county and state haven’t matched up, it is simply because the numbers “haven’t been reconciled” between the two branches. He also said the issue is not unique to Flathead County and when a health department experiences a surge in cases, that tends to impact the speed in which the numbers are updated.

“The point is the state numbers are not updated in real time,” Ebelt noted. “But that’s only because they are focused on the important work at hand of conducting the vital contact tracing.”

During the Board of Health meeting, one health department employee said staff were monitoring well over 1,000 individuals and over the past week Flathead County has been gaining an average of 20 to 30 cases per day. Additional data shows case investigators have been tracking an additional six people a day, on average, for weeks now.

Interim Health Officer Tamalee St. James Robinson said earlier this summer the health department had hired on temporary staff to assist with the caseloads and monitoring. So far, the health department has received nearly $430,000 from two separate state grants to assist with COVID response.

According to Amy Dexter, director of the Flathead County Finance Department, the department has spent about $305,000 of the grant money and that a large portion of that has been used for employee salaries. Dexter added the department is eligible for federal CARES Act money, should grant funding from the state run out.

Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist said the county has been “fully behind” the health department since the start of Montana’s outbreak and will be responsive however the county is able, should health department personnel need additional assistance.

Holmquist, who also serves on the Board of Health, said "when it rains it pours and we just will have to push through this. Hopefully it will let up some soon."

As of Friday afternoon, health department officials had not responded to questions from the Daily Inter Lake.

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