KALISPELL — The Flathead County Board of Health will vote on a proposal Thursday for increased restrictions on social gatherings as new COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Bars, restaurants and churches in Flathead County will see tighter restrictions come into place if the proposal is approved.
If approved, the new restrictions include:
- Social gatherings to be limited to no more than 25 people, regardless of the ability to socially distance.
- The capacity at bars, restaurants and churches will be set to 25%.
- Any business that sells alcohol would have to close by 10 p.m.
- Schools and school activities and sports will not be included in the order.
Restrictions will go into place if the number of new cases is at an average of 50 per day per 100,000 residents for the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1, equaling out to 375 new COVID-19 cases per week in Flathead County.
The new restrictions would be in place for one month from the initiation of the order.
On the health board agenda, county health officials said more people have died from COVID-19 in Flathead County over the past seven months than the last four years of influenza-related deaths in the county combined.
County health officials said at least 14 bars and restaurants have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks since the beginning of September.
The Board of Health will act on the new restrictions at their scheduled board meeting on Thursday from 1 p.m - 3 p.m. Additional information about the meeting can be found here.
As of Tuesday, there were over 1,100 active COVID-19 cases in Flathead County. The Flathead City-County Health Department reported Tuesday that they had received 186 new cases in the past three days.