State officials attribute spike in Montana COVID-19 cases to more testing

(KPAX) Montana has seen one of its biggest spikes in new COVID-19 cases this past week – 136 total.

It's the most since late March.

Jim Murphy with the Montana Bureau of Communicable Disease Prevention said Wednesday that a lot of factors are behind the clusters. He said there’s been more contact among people since businesses have re-opened and more testing, which has revealed more cases.

State epidemiologist Stacy Anderson also said some of the outbreaks came in group settings or by infected people traveling to a different city or town in Montana. They said people need to continue social distancing, including at work and if they can’t, then to wear a mask.

Gov. Bullock said he’s not going to require people to wear masks in public but that he’s strongly recommending it when social distancing can’t be achieved.

"We’re not asking folks to wear masks at all times. It makes no sense to do so when you’re fishing with your family or when you’re driving in your car alone. But do so at the grocery store, the pharmacy, grabbing a coffee, going into the gas station. That 15 minutes of inconvenience can make all the difference between one case turning into a dozen, or more."