Missoula heath board to follow CDC quarantine guidelines
MISSOULA, Mont. — Missoula's Board of Health voted unanimously on Tuesday to continue following CDC guidelines that say vaccinated close contacts to COVID-19 cases do not have to quarantine, while unvaccinated close contacts do, despite possible legal action from the state based on House Bill 702, which passed in May.
The board held a special meeting to discuss the possible impacts of HB 702 on those CDC guidelines. HB 702 bars discrimination against people based on vaccination status. The Montana Department of Labor and Industry says government agencies and employers can't require proof of vaccination as a condition of receiving public assistance, employment or goods and services.
Health officer D’Shane Barnett started the meeting explaining the difference between quarantine and isolation, saying quarantine is meant to separate people who are close contacts to limit potential spread while testing results are pending. Isolation separates people who have tested positive from others to limit spread.
The board discussed five potential options:
- Don’t order quarantine for vaccinated or unvaccinated close contacts.
- Order quarantine for both vaccinated and unvaccinated close contacts despite CDC guidance.
- Continue to follow CDC guidance and quarantine unvaccinated close contacts but not vaccinated close contacts, risking potential legal action from the state.
- Order quarantine of close contacts under 12, but recommend quarantine based on CDC guidance for individuals over 12.
- Prioritize quarantining of close contacts based on multiple factors, including vaccination.
The board brought in voices from Missoula County Public Schools, Providence and Partnership Health for perspective.
MCPS Superintendent Rob Watson showed support for option four, saying that quarantining both vaccinated and unvaccinated could heavily disrupt students’ participation in school.
If the Board of Health ordered all close contacts under 12 to quarantine, the school would also be able to point parents to the health order rather than it being at the school’s discretion.
Watson said he estimates about 80% of MCPS staff are vaccinated, and if everyone, staff included, had to quarantine, they could face a big staffing shortage.
“Our highest number of close contacts happened during the surge last November. I think we were in the neighborhood of 400 close contacts in one day,” Watson told the board. “That’s a lot of students and staff who were out. We were close to shutting down school because staff were out due to being close contacts.”
The board was unsure if they could face the same legal hurdles in options three and four. It’s unclear in the law if ordering people differently based on vaccination status would violate HB 702.
“I think it’s an important question that someone needs to answer,” said Anna Conley, chief civil deputy county attorney for Missoula.
Some Montana counties, including Gallatin, Lewis and Clark and Yellowstone, went with option one, which goes against CDC guidelines and doesn't require anyone to quarantine, vaccinated or not.
Joyce Dombrouski, chief executive with Providence, said they’ve gone from two to 25 COVID patients in a matter of days at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
“It’s a perfect storm of a lot more patients and diminished staffing,” said Dombrouski. “Between 10 and 15% of those admitted with COVID are vaccinated.”
St. Patrick Hospital is pausing all elective surgeries in part to avoid staffing fatigue.
“The right thing to do seems pretty straightforward, which is to ask people if they’re vaccinated or unvaccinated and quarantine them based on that data,” said Dr. James Quirk, chief medical officer at Partnership Health Center. “If someone at the state level served a lawsuit, I would feel comfortable that I did the right thing.”
“In an attempt to move this along, I would make the motion that we continue to follow CDC guidelines and acknowledge that it may be problematic down the road,” said board member Dan Corti.
Board members approved the motion on the conditions that they’ll discuss it again as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve. They’ll also make adjustments as the Missoula City-County Health Department continues to gather data.
