As of Friday, July 31, 2020, Montana reports 3,965 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 153 new cases reported in the last day: 39 in Yellowstone County, 17 in Flathead and in Gallatin County, 13 in Missoula County, 12 in Beaverhead County, 11 in Big Horn County, 10 in Silver Bow County, 8 in Lincoln County, 7 in Carbon County, 6 in Lake County, 4 in Madison County, 3 in Lewis & Clark County, and 1 in each of Broadwater, Cascade, Glacier, Jefferson, Ravalli, and Rosebud Counties. Statewide, 230 people have been hospitalized, and 71 people are currently being treated in the hospital for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 1,022 cases so far, and Gallatin County has had 849. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,574. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 605 active cases. Gallatin County has 156 active cases. 60 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 155,000 Americans have died.

People social distancing from one another has resulted in much lower seasonal flu infections. Health officials in Australia say they’ve seen the lowest ever rates of other viral infection admissions for this time of year. Social distancing and other health protocols are having an unprecedented impact on other communicable diseases. In China, where the earliest wide-scale lockdown measures began, there have been significant declines in new reports of diseases including mumps, measles and some sexually transmitted diseases, with the sharpest decline in influenza cases. Cases of the flu have dropped by more than 90 percent in China since the beginning of the lockdown, from around 290,000 cases a month to 23,000.

The Philadelphia Phillies shut down Citizens Bank Park “until further notice” after a member of the coaching staff and one of the home clubhouse staffers tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier, a member of the visiting clubhouse staff also tested positive. The announcement came in the wake of a three-game series with the Miami Marlins. Seventeen Marlins players and two coaches have tested positive for coronavirus since last Friday.

Montana reported multiple days of more than 200 daily COVID-19 cases this past week, with more young people contracting COVID-19. In Gallatin County, three-quarters of the cases are people under the age of 40. There are nine counties in Montana that are hotspots: in northwest Montana, Flathead, Lake, and Missoula Counties; in central Montana, Lewis and Clark and Cascade Counties; and in southwest and southcentral Montana, Gallatin and Madison Counties, and Yellowstone and Big Horn Counties. In Yellowstone County, 19% of the cases are connected to assisted living or long term care facilities. –KTVH

A resident in an independent senior living and assisted living facility in Kalispell has tested positive for COVID-19. A female resident at Immanuel Lutheran tested positive for the novel coronavirus Tuesday. All residents and staff are now being tested for the respiratory virus. The facility has about 300 residents who live in apartments or private rooms. About 200 residents live in the building where the female resident tested positive. The woman is receiving care while isolated and is in stable condition. This positive coronavirus case in a senior living facility follows a deadly outbreak at Canyon Creek Memory Care in Billings where 15 of 55 residents have died of COVID-19.