As of Friday, August 28, 2020, Montana reports 7,063 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 134 new cases reported in the last day: 52 in Yellowstone County, 12 in Flathead County, 10 in Missoula County and in Rosebud County, 7 in Big Horn County and in Glacier County, 6 in Fergus County, 5 in each of Gallatin and Ravalli Counties, 3 in each of Cascade, Dawson, and Hill Counties, 2 in Lincoln, Stillwater, and Valley Counties, and 1 in each of Carbon, Custer, Lewis & Clark, Musselshell, and Richland Counties. Statewide, 417 people have been hospitalized, and 121 people were being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 1,958 cases so far. Gallatin County has had 1,051. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,791. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 940 active cases. Gallatin County has 35 active cases. 100 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 181,000 Americans have died. There have been 5,940,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Florida confirmed almost 9,000 new COVID-19 cases among children within 15 days in August as schools reopened. More than 80% were among children aged 5 to 17, the typical ages when children attend school.

Montana is issuing enhanced unemployment benefits of $400 a week to those in the Lost Wages Assistance Program. Montana began issuing the $400 unemployment benefit this week. Under the program, state’s labor departments may distribute $300 a week in FEMA disaster relief funds to claimants, with states funding the extra $100 a week using CARES Act dollars, making a benefit totaling $400 a week. Montana is just one of four states currently funding and issuing the $400 benefit. In just the past three days, more than $31 million in payments were sent out. You can find more information on the Lost Wage Assistance program and how to apply at the Montana Department of Labor and Industry website at dli.mt.gov.

As Montana college students return to class, Montana’s two largest universities will not disclose COVID-19 case numbers. Local health departments are taking different approaches when it comes to reporting the numbers. Some faculty say they’d feel safer knowing the details of COVID-19’s movement at their school. The University of Montana’s Faculty Senate approved a resolution this week asking administrators to release information that gives a picture of the possible spread of COVID-19 on campus. There is no Montana University System-wide policy in place that would dictate how numbers should be published. University officials are concerned with releasing data that could potentially single out a student or faculty member. In Gallatin County, home of Montana State University, health officials have decided to publish school-specific COVID-19 case numbers once a week. Since last week, 31 cases of COVID-19 have been associated with the MSU’s Bozeman campus. Other universities around the country are taking a different approach. The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks created a dashboard that shows in real-time how many people on campus have tested positive for COVID-19 or are in quarantine. The information is broken down into faculty, staff and students.

The Gallatin City-County Health Department decided Thursday to allow limited visitation at long-term care facilities, since the number of active coronavirus cases in Gallatin County is declining. Local nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and senior and assisted living facilities can welcome visitors if they comply with requirements that include surveillance testing, monitoring visitors for COVID-19 symptoms, and having no COVID-19 cases in the facility for at least 28 days. The new rule aligns Gallatin County’s regulations with statewide rules. In March, all non-essential visits to long-term care facilities were suspended in the state. Then, in June, visits resumed to some of the facilities, but Gallatin County opted to continue the prohibitions because long-term care facilities had experienced deadly coronavirus outbreaks in Montana and elsewhere.