MONTANA – Governor Steve
Bullock today extended through April 24 Directives he issued to protect
Montanans from COVID-19 by slowing the spread of the virus in Montana. The
Directives were set to expire on April 10.
“We know that staying home will help to flatten the curve.
For every person we take out of the chain of transmission of this virus, the
more likely our health care facilities can handle the capacity to respond, and
the more likely we can beat back this virus sooner rather than later,”
Governor
Bullock said.
“We stay at home to ensure that our health care workers and
first responders have adequate time to receive the supplies to keep them, their
patients, and their families safe. We stay home to protect Montanans in our
rural communities and our rural health care workers who face long distances to
access care.”
“We also stay home so that we can more quickly rebuild to a
thriving economy. It is not a choice between a healthy population and a healthy
economy -- the two go hand in hand.
Managing this public health crisis
now will help to prevent long-term consequences that could upend our economy
for a longer duration and with a worse outcome,”
continued Governor
Bullock.
The extension covers the stay at home order, school closures,
on-premises dining and beverage operations, eviction and foreclosure
suspensions and the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for travelers coming into
Montana for non-work-related travel.
Today’s Directive extends from April 10 through April 24th
the following Directives:
- Closing
all non-residential public schools in Montana. Previous Directive
issued
March 15
and previously
extended through April 10
.
- Closing
certain on-premises dining and beverage businesses while expanding and
encouraging delivery, takeout, and drive-up options. Previous Directive
issued
March 24
.
- Extending
the stay at home Directive except for certain essential activities,
temporarily closing non-essential businesses, provided social distancing
requirements, and limited non-essential travel. Previous Directive
issued
March 26
.
- Limiting
evictions, foreclosures, and disconnections for the duration of the Stay
at Home Directive. Previous Directive
issued
March 30
.
- Requiring
a 14-day self-quarantine for individuals arriving in Montana for
non-work-related travel. Previous Directive
issued
March 30
, which followed Governor
Bullock’s travel advisory on March 19
th.
Other Directives issued or actions taken
in response to the statewide emergency do not need to be extended as they will
stay in effect for the duration of the emergency or even longer. Those actions
include:
designating
childcare facilities as essential businesses
, bolstering food
security for Montana families
, expanding telemedicine services to Medicaid
patients, issuing
emergency
rules to make unemployment benefits accessible
to workers laid off due to
COVID-19,
emergency
loans for small businesses
through the Small Business Administration, and
calling for the
census
deadline to be extended
until at least September 30.