As of Monday, August 17, 2020, Montana reports 5,792 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 43 new cases reported in the last day: 15 in Flathead County, 11 in Yellowstone County, 10 in Big Horn County, 2 in Carbon County, and 1 in each of Cascade, Gallatin, Madison, Missoula, and Phillips Counties. Statewide, 330 people have been hospitalized, and 94 are currently being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 1,533 cases so far, and Gallatin County has had 992. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,548. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 648 active cases. Gallatin County has 41 active cases. 82 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 170,000 Americans have died. There have been 5.4 million COVID-19 cases in the United States, and counting.

Native Americans make up a small percentage of Montana’s total population, just 7%, but have 18% of all coronavirus cases in the state, and an inordinate percentage of coronavirus deaths: 35%. Tribal epidemiologists are working with the CDC to analyze how the virus is disproportionately impacting Native Americans.

An Oklahoma State University sorority house has been placed in quarantine after 23 members tested positive for COVID-19. The entire sorority house is in isolation and quarantine after the confirmed cases, and residents will be prohibited from leaving the facility, which is off-campus. Oklahoma State University and the Payne County Health Department are monitoring those involved and conducting contract tracing to prevent further spread. Other universities have already experienced outbreaks of illness of coronavirus, after students have returned for fall classes. This past Saturday, the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma said nine football players have tested positive for the coronavirus. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill started classes less than a week ago, but Saturday reported a third cluster of COVID-19 cases at its Sigma Nu fraternity, and a day later, on Sunday, announced a fourth cluster of cases.

Fruit harvests in eastern Washington State have been stymied by widespread coronavirus infection and deaths. Seasonal workers describe a COVID-ridden cherry-picking season in Okanogan County, Washington. At just one site, the family-owned Gebbers Farms, one of the largest orchard operations in eastern Washington, some 4,500 workers, including more than 2,000 guest workers, usually stay from June to November for the harvest. But early on, 120 Gebbers Farms workers had tested positive for coronavirus. Another 156 employees showed symptoms and were quarantined. Workers describe lax protocols for their health and safety. In the Okanogan County camp where the guest workers lived, safety gaps included problems with a daily temperature check intended to identify sick people who needed to be sent to isolation cabins in a separate area. A supervisor who did that task got sick with COVID-19, and passed the job to a guest worker, who — even when someone’s temperature was high — would often record a normal temperature instead. In just the first few weeks of picking, two workers died of COVID-19, prompting many workers to go home far short of the November end of harvest.

COVID-19 rates in children are steadily and dramatically increasing. The American Academy of Pediatrics reported a 90% increase in pediatric cases in the past month. During the last two weeks of July alone, more than 97,000 children tested positive for coronavirus.

California’s Death Valley hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, shattering the August record not only for the region but also for all of the continent of North America. Sunday’s reading of 130 degrees is the third hottest temperature recorded in human history on Earth and the hottest since the 1930s, and comes as the western United States continues to see scorching weather from Arizona to Montana. Phoenix tied its all-time August temperature, hitting 117 degrees Friday. Billings, Montana, might see a high of its own Monday, with temperatures possibly climbing to 101.