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Gallatin County Search and Rescue says avoid high-risk adventures during COVID-19 pandemic

Posted at 3:36 PM, Mar 30, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-30 17:36:49-04

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team remains active during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Search and Rescue Commander, there’s still snowmobiling and backcountry skiing activity, and they continue to get calls.

During this time, they ask that you continue to enjoy recreating, but do so conservatively.

That means avoiding the high risk adventures and highly technical terrain, and saving it for when the pandemic is over.

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GCSO Search and Rescue

This is all part of an effort to keep Search and Rescue volunteers healthy, so they can respond when they’re needed the most.

“What we’re trying to do is we’re managing how many times we’re bringing all those volunteers together and deploying them on a Search and Rescue event,” said Jeremy Kopp, Commander of Gallatin County’s Search and Rescue team.

“Because there’s another layer. And so when they get sick, and we lose one, two multiple, that has a significant impact.”

The Gallatin County Search and Rescue team would like to remind you that they will respond to any rescue call during this time, no matter what.

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Courtesy: Gallatin County Search and Rescue

"STAY HOME" ORDER: Governor Steve Bullock on Thursday afternoon issued a directive requiring Montanans to stay home and temporarily closes all nonessential businesses and operations as efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) continue. The order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 28. Click here for complete details .

The order will be in effect through Friday, April 10, and requires all businesses and operations in Montana, except for essential businesses and operations as defined in the directive, to stop all activities within the state. The Directive also prohibits all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a household or place of residence. The order does not prohibit restaurants from continuing to offer take-out, curb-side, and delivery service.

Here's a list of Bozeman-area and Butte-area restaurants offering services.

Employees who are not sure if they are considered essential should talk with their manager/business owner. Business owners with questions can call at 1-800-755-6672 and leave messages 24-hours a day and will receive a prompt response, according to Bullock. *CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THE DIRECTIVE*