MONTANA — On Saturday, Montana reported 501 cases of COVID-19, setting another daily record.
And some medical professionals are concerned this could put a strain on the state’s hospitals.
“We still have time to turn this number around,” said physician and former network medical correspondent, Dr. Nancy Snyderman.
Dr. Snyderman says the increase in COVID-19 cases in Montana poses some concern.
“One, obviously, is that the hospitals in our larger cities could get overrun quite quickly. But now let me take you out to rural Montana where some of the small hospitals may have skeleton crews, may have traveling doctors and may only have one or two ventilators,” said Snyderman.
One of her biggest concerns: if flu collides with an uptick in COVID-19 cases, both in Montana and across the country.
“When those two crash together, we may see more than the 30, 40, or 50,000 people who die annually just from the flu collide with what may be the hundreds of thousands of people getting terminally ill with coronavirus,” said Dr. Snyderman.
Which means this year, more than any other year, doctors are encouraging everyone to get a flu shot. Especially people over the age of 65.
Dr. Snyderman says keeping in mind the basics will be critical in keeping COVID-19 contained in Montana.
“Assume somebody you come into contact with might have the virus. And your best defense still goes back to those boring 3 things we’ve been talking about since March: wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance.”
When asked how President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis might affect the way Americans view the disease, Dr. Snyderman said, “I hope that when people look at the fact that the super spreading event may have been an outdoor event in the Rose Garden, that we’ll start to realize that being indoors is even a larger threat, and that even being outdoors requires social distancing.”
And even with a week of record-setting COVID-19 daily cases reported in the state of Montana, Snyderman said, “In Montana, we can bend the curve; for sure we can bend the curve, but only if we’re all in this together.”