As of Thursday, October 15, 2020, Montana reports 20,933 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with yet another daily record number of new cases, 735, reported in the last day: 137 in Yellowstone County, 85 in Glacier County, 83 in Cascade County, 79 in Flathead County, 71 in Gallatin County, 23 in Hill County, 23 in Missoula County, 19 in Big Horn County, 18 in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 38 more Montana counties. Statewide, 959 people have been hospitalized, and 301 people currently are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Hospitals in more than ten Montana counties are near or at capacity for patients. In Montana, a total of 101 intensive care unit beds and 318 ventilators are available. There are 7,849 active coronavirus cases in Montana. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Flathead, Glacier, Missoula, Cascade, and Gallatin Counties. 230 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 217,000 Americans have died. There have been 7,980,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Athletic Director Greg Byrne have both tested positive and are self-isolating. Tests and contact tracing of Alabama football players, staff, and close contacts, including football opponents, is ongoing.

Montana had the third-highest rate of new cases per capita last week and the second-highest test positivity rate in the country, at 10.1%State officials have said the increase in cases is caused by schools reopening, holiday weekend gatherings and the continuing spread of the virus in congregate living settings, such as nursing homes and jails.

Gallatin County reports a fifth death from coronavirus, a woman in her 90s who died in her home at a long-term care facility.

In Lewis & Clark County, Carroll College in Helena reports 40 active COVID-19 cases on its campus.

In Toole county, a private prison in Shelby, the Crossroads Correctional Facility, now has positive COVID-19 tests from a third of its inmates. 201 of 586 inmates have tested positive for the disease, making it by far the facility with the greatest number of cases among individuals in custody in Montana.

Montana State University has changed its calendar to make a long break between Fall and Spring semesters. The break will go from Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, to the first day of the spring semester on Jan. 11, 2021. MSU also has shortened spring semester and canceled spring break for 2021 — a change aimed at reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission and ending the semester early. The Commission of Higher Education said, “We know that our most challenging periods for COVID-19 spread are those that directly follow long weekends and other periods of heavy travel within and outside Montana. As such, the community health risk that would stem from allowing a traditional spring break outweighs the costs associated with using that time as an instructional period.”

Snowfall across Montana Thursday morning snarled some vehicle travel. The eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 on Homestake Pass were closed after heavy snowfall caused a number of accidents involving vehicles and semi trucks.

State legislators are weighing options for the 2021 regular session of the Montana Legislature, which calls to order January 4. Legislators hope to conduct a hybrid session, with the legislators, staff, lobbyists, and the public largely participating via remote meeting apps instead of gathering in person at the capitol in Helena. Close gatherings of people over even brief periods of time have spread coronavirus and sickened people with COVID-19.