Livingston lawsuit prompts COVID-19 address database

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 10/27/20

Last week, the city of Livingston, Montana, sued Park County Health Officer Dr. Laurel Desnick, the Park County Health Department and the City-County Board of Health. The lawsuit alleges that the health department did not disclose the addresses of positive COVID-19 patient to city dispatchers, which led to first responders being unnecessarily exposed to the virus. The emergency personnel who responded to the Wilsall patient then had to quarantine once they learned that the patient and their family had all recently tested positive for the virus. In response, the county will now release the addresses of COVID-19 positive cases to law enforcement for their protection. The county previously provided addresses associated with positive cases to law enforcement, but only with patient approval, a practice that fell off as cases continued to rise.