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Montana National Guard will assist with COVID response at the Montana State Prison

Posted at 1:51 PM, Oct 26, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-26 15:55:25-04

GREAT FALLS — Governor Steve Bullock and Major General Matthew Quinn have activated the Montana Army National Guard to provide operational assistance at the Montana State Prison, where staff and inmates have been impacted by COVID-19.

The prison reported its first positive cases among staff and inmates earlier in October. Since then, 61 staff members and 166 inmates have tested positive for the virus. The facility has a total of 701 staff members and an inmate population of 1,407.

The soldiers will be assisting with duties including distribution of mail, laundry, inmate counts, and delivering meals, ensuring that MSP staff is available to manage the additional tasks presented by COVID-19 at the facility. The soldiers will not be armed, and their direct contact with inmates will be minimized. The team team will be split into two groups, each working 12-hour shifts.

Reginald Michael, the director of the Montana Department of Corrections who requested the assistance, said in a news release, “Similar to other prisons across the country, we are in need additional staffing support at MSP. This scenario is a part of our COVID-19 response plan, and this measure will allow our staff members to continue to do their important public safety work with aid from the MTARNG.”

The volunteer soldiers from the 1-163rd Combined Arms Battalion, 190th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, and the 484th Military Police Company arrived in Helena on Sunday to participate in training for their assignment at the facility. The group of 67 soldiers are scheduled to begin their orientation at the prison on Monday afternoon and assume their duties on Tuesday.

The prison continues to screen its employees, and now the soldiers, every day when they report for work at the prison. MSP staff and the soldiers also wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

The team’s mission at MSP is scheduled to run through November 8th.



There were 622 new cases and six new deaths added to the total on the Montana COVID-19 tracking site on Monday morning. The data below is from the official Montana website on October 26:

  • TOTAL CASES & RECOVERIES: There have been 28,501 cumulative cases, with 18,343 people now listed as recovered.
  • HOSPITALIZATIONS: There are 360 current hospitalizations, and a cumulative total of 1,237 hospitalizations.
  • DEATHS: The cumulative number of deaths in Montana is now 303.
  • ACTIVE CASES: There are currently 9,855 active COVID-19 cases in Montana.
  • TESTING: There were 10,718 completed tests, for a new cumulative state-wide total of 476,325.

Numbers reported by the state each day occasionally differ from those reported by county public health departments due to periodic lag times in reporting data to the state. We encourage people to check the official website and/or Facebook page of their respective county health department for any information that is not yet included in the state's daily updates. Based on additional data from county health departments, MTN News reports the following:

  • Deaths: 321 (+18 from state)
  • Active: 9,002 (-853 from state)
  • Recoveries: 19,476 (1,133 from state)
  • Total Cases: 28,799 (+298 from state)

It's important to note that not every person who tests positive actually becomes ill or exhibits symptoms. Many do not; of those who do become sick, some experience mild symptoms and do not require hospitalization. Others, however, do require hospitalization, as noted in the daily update on the number of people hospitalized. However, every person who does test positive for COVID-19 has the potential to spread the virus to other people, including family members and friends, which is why public health officials continue to encourage everyone to wear a mask and maintain at least the recommended six feet of "social distance" when in public.