As of Saturday, July 25, 2020, Montana reports 3,260 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 224 new cases reported in the last day. That’s a record high number of coronavirus cases in the state of Montana. Of the new cases, there are 46 in Gallatin County, 33 in Big Horn County, 31 in Missoula County, 25 in Yellowstone County, 19 in Lake County, 12 in Beaverhead County, 10 in Cascade County, 6 in Glacier and in Park County, 5 in Lewis & Clark and in Madison County, 4 in Carbon, Custer, Deer Lodge, and Hill Counties, 2 in Dawson and in Flathead Counties, and 1 new case in each of Daniels, Fallon, Lincoln, Richland, Rosebud, and Silver Bow Counties. Statewide, 195 people have been hospitalized, and 59 people are currently being treated in the hospital for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 843 cases so far. Gallatin County has had 760 total coronavirus cases so far. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 434 active cases. Gallatin County has 156 active cases of coronavirus infection. Statewide the total is 1,237 cases, and 1,977 have recovered. 46 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 148,000 Americans have died.

Cuba credits two drugs produced by its biotech industry with dramatically curbing the deaths due to coronavirus. The drugs reduce hyper-inflammation in seriously ill COVID-19 patients. There have been just two virus-related deaths over the past nine days among more than 200 active cases on the Caribbean’s largest island, a sign that Cuba may have the worst of the outbreak under control. The government, which hopes to increase its biopharmaceutical exports, has touted various drugs it produces for helping prevent infection with the new coronavirus and treating the COVID-19 disease it causes. It ascribes the recent reduction in deaths of severely ill COVID-19 patients largely to the use beginning in April of two drugs that appear to help calm the “cytokine (sigh-tuh-keen) storm,” a dangerous overresponse by the immune system in which it attacks healthy tissue as well as the invading virus. The two drugs are itolizumab (idolize-uh-mab), a monoclonal antibody produced in Cuba and elsewhere. The other is a peptide that Cuba says its biotech industry discovered and has been testing for rheumatoid arthritis.

A Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant died of COVID-19 after attending a training course. He was one of 17 people to test positive for coronavirus after attending the in-person training event, and died Tuesday. Jeff Kurtzman and 16 others contracted the respiratory illness after attending the course in Honolulu in late June. The cluster of cases stemmed from the training. Kurtzman was admitted to hospital after returning home to Los Angeles. He said that some people on the training course “got a little lax on the second day, ‘but I kept my mask on. I don’t want to get sick.'” But he was unable to avoid the respiratory illness and got sick when he returned home. Those at the training session were exposed to the virus in part because social distancing was nonexistent and masks were optional. Some of the at least 16 employees that were infected went on to expose eight household members, and an infected person from the training program is also responsible for 20 additional cases at two Hawaii recreational gyms.

The Gallatin City-County Board of Health has approved a local mask mandate that largely aligns with an existing statewide order. The local rule includes enforcement penalties for those who don’t comply; people who refuse to wear a mask can be charged with a misdemeanor, but the health department has said it will focus on education rather than enforcement. The local rule also requires masks in schools for students above the fifth grade. The Bozeman School District and Montana State University have already said they will require masks.

The local rule focuses on requiring masks in public indoor settings. It also says they must be worn at construction sites when social distancing isn’t possible. Construction sites have been connected to several coronavirus cases and clusters in the county, including a cluster in Big Sky. They also said masks are simple and inexpensive and less disruptive than other regulations like stay-at-home orders. The health board also extended the county’s rule that requires symptomatic people awaiting test results and those who have been identified by the health department as a close contact of someone who has tested positive / to self-quarantine. The rule also says those who have tested positive must remain isolated until they are no longer contagious.

The Bozeman School District will require staff and students, if and when they return to classrooms, to wear masks to curb the spread of COVID-19. The school district is still finalizing plans for what reopening could look like and will likely make a recommendation to the school board in early August. But if schools reopen for in-person instruction, which is the goal, face coverings will be mandatory, said Superintendent Bob Connors. Staff who teach preschool through second grade will wear clear masks so their faces are visible, which is important for language and vocabulary development.