BOZEMAN — The Gallatin City-County Board of Health voted unanimously on Thursday morning to amend an option to change closing time for Gallatin County businesses from midnight to an amended 2 a.m.
Closing time is now 2 am for the next 90 days.
“You just took a leap of faith,” said Matt Kelley, Gallatin County Public Health Officer. “This has huge risks.”
The board plans to revisit this option at their next meeting on Feb. 25 at 7 a.m. (their normal board meeting) At that time they will check to see if COVID-19 cases are spiking and also check to see if businesses are complying with previous health orders.
The board also discussed how more vaccination clinics are being planned between all of the PODs. Mainly, how they will hold three clinics by the end of the week, with one slated for tomorrow. This concerns Phase 1B distribution. These three clinics are planned to be at Bozeman Health for approximately 1,170 of its 3,345 patients who meet certain criteria (over 80, Native American, other people of color).
At the last meeting, on Jan. 22, 2021, the Gallatin City-County Board of Health made a series of votes, including extending the countywide mask mandate, quarantine rules and rules about visitation at assisted living facilities.
But they did not extend restrictions on business hours, at that time.
After that meeting that lasted nearly six hours, the board decided it will discuss those restrictions further when they were originally set to expire, which is on February 4.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
