As of Tuesday, August 11, 2020, Montana reports 5,104 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 97 new cases reported in the last day: 27 new cases in Phillips County (Malta is the county seat, and Phillips County includes part of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation), 21 in Yellowstone County, 10 in Big Horn County, 5 in each of Flathead, Lewis & Clark, and Silver Bow Counties, 3 in each of Cascade, Dawson, Lake, and Valley Counties, 2 in Carbon, McCone, and Mineral Counties, and 1 in each of Blaine, Gallatin, Glacier, Granite, Hill, and Roosevelt Counties. Statewide, 276 people have been hospitalized, and 77 people are currently being treated in the hospital for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 1,316 cases so far, and Gallatin County has had 948. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,485. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 590 active cases. Gallatin County has 30 active cases of coronavirus infection. 77 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 163,000 Americans have died.

New Zealand announced on Tuesday it was shutting down its largest city, Auckland, after four new cases of COVID-19 were discovered in the city, the first evidence of domestic transmission after being coronavirus-free for 102 days. New Zealand’s successful fight against COVID-19 was hailed globally and the Pacific island nation of 5 million people was seen as one of the safest places as the pandemic raged globally. New Zealand was placed under a tight lockdown for weeks after reporting its first known case on Feb. 26. The last case of community transmission in New Zealand was detected on May 1. The country marked 100 days without a domestic transmission of the coronavirus on Sunday.

The four new cases reported Tuesday are within one family in South Auckland. One person is in their 50s. The family had no history of international travel. Family members have been tested and contact tracing is under way. Auckland, New Zealand will move to level 3 restrictions, which mean people should stay away from work and school, and gatherings or more than 10 people would again be restricted.

In north Georgia, the Cherokee County School District is requiring 826 students and 42 teachers to quarantine as a result of exposure to COVID-19 after being back to school for only six days. The Georgia school district reopened without a mask mandate for students, even though staff had been required to wear face masks on school grounds. Another school in Georgia, Etowah High School, has required 296 high school students and five staff members to quarantine. A photo of students from Etowah High School went viral last week as schools across the country begin to reopen during the pandemic. The photo showed incoming seniors posing shoulder-to-shoulder outdoors, but with no masks.

The Bozeman School Board voted Monday night to adopt a blended K-12 return-to-school plan proposed by Superintendent Bob Connors; the plan has students alternating between in-person and remote learning during the school week.

Big Ten Conference presidents and chancellors voted Tuesday to postpone all fall sports seasons, including football, with the hopes of playing in the spring. Officials with the ACC and SEC have indicated they plan to proceed with seasons this fall, but it’s unclear whether the Big Ten’s decision will change those plans. Besides football, other sports impacted are men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.