As of Sunday, August 2, 2020, Montana reports 4,193 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 113 new cases reported in the last day: 50 new cases in Yellowstone County, 19 in Big Horn County, 10 in Flathead and in Missoula Counties, 6 in Gallatin County, 3 in Glacier County, 2 in each of Cascade, Lewis & Clark, Silver Bow, and Valley Counties, and 1 in each of Blaine, Carbon, Chouteau, Lake, Lincoln, Madison, and Park Counties. Statewide, 233 people have been hospitalized, and 72 people are currently being treated in the hospital for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 1,098 cases so far, and Gallatin County has had 870. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,666. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 599 active cases. Gallatin County has 158 active cases. 61 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 157,000 Americans have died. The relentless death toll from coronavirus infection in the U.S. is projected to reach 173,000 by August 22, according to the CDC. That’s an average of almost 1,000 US deaths every day for the next 30 days.

A Gallatin County resident in her 90s died of complications due to COVID-19 Friday, according to the Gallatin City-County Health Department. The woman is the third Gallatin County resident to die of the virus. She had been hospitalized.

36 crew members and four guests on a Norwegian cruise ship have tested positive for Covid-19. After four staff on the MS Roald Amundsen became ill and were found to have the disease on Friday, all 158 crew members were tested. The four crew members showing symptoms all are hospitalized, and guests from two expeditions are now self-quarantining in line with Norwegian regulations. The ship had recently had two expeditions to the Arctic in a two-week period, with 378 guests, all of whom may have been exposed to coronavirus.

Long-time country music disc jockey Bill Mack died of COVID-19 Friday. Mack wrote the hit song “Blue” for LeAnn Rimes and hosted the Midnight Cowboy Trucking Show overnight program in Fort Worth for decades. He’s an honoree in the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame.

Montana’s new lead monitoring program has revealed that the first school to conduct testing tested positive for lead. Hedges Elementary School in Kalispell showed lead in drinking water. Lead can enter water through old pipes. Children are most vulnerable to lead exposure and the effects of the heavy metal poisoning can include damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys. Hedges Elementary is the first school to submit its results. 36 water fixtures at Hedges that tested positive for lead include 10 that are at high enough levels for the school to shut the sources down immediately, and two of those are water fountains.