As of Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Montana reports 41,151 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,101 new cases reported in the last day: 215 in Gallatin County, 162 in Flathead County, 108 in Missoula County, 92 in Yellowstone County, 84 in Cascade County, 49 in Lewis & Clark County, 48 in Toole County, and more new cases in 34 more Montana counties. Statewide, 1,510 people have been hospitalized, and a record 487 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. There are 16,816 active coronavirus cases in Montana. In the past month, the number of active cases in Montana has more than tripled. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, Cascade County, Gallatin County, Missoula, Lewis & Clark, and Flathead Counties. 462 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. More than half of all the COVID deaths in Montana occurred in the last month. Nationwide, more than 240,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 10,300,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The drug company Pfizer says that early analysis showed its vaccine candidate for Covid-19 is more than 90 percent effective at preventing infection. People in a trial saw 90 percent fewer symptomatic cases of Covid-19 than participants who were given a placebo. Even with early promising results, significant challenges and unanswered questions remain before average Americans can get a shot. Pfizer’s vaccine is a new type of technology that’s never been used in mass human vaccination before, and experts caution that much remains unknown about its safety, how long it might work, and who might benefit most. Even if “some Americans are vaccinated later this year, it will be many more months before there is widespread vaccination in this country. Americans will have to rely on masking, distancing, contact tracing, hand washing, and other measures to keep themselves safe well into next year, before a vaccine is available.

Utah has declared a state of emergency and ordered residents to mask up amid a Covid-19 case surge. Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican who has supported wearing masks but had resisted imposing a mandate, reversed course after the state experienced a 46 percent increase in new cases in the last two weeks. The governor has ordered Utah residents to mask up “for the foreseeable future.” The governor said, “We cannot afford to debate this issue any longer. Individual freedom is certainly important, and it is our rule of law that protects that freedom.”

In Texas, so many people have died of the coronavirus in El Paso that the city has run out of morgue space and are now storing bodies in refrigerated trailers.

Ben Carson became the latest member of the Trump administration to test positive for the coronavirus. The Housing and Urban Development secretary had attended a post-election night event Wednesday at the White House.

Butte-Silver-Bow Health Officer Karen Sullivan will issue new health orders formally placing limits on groups and activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement coincides with two more deaths at Butte’s Continental Care and Rehabilitation nursing facility, for a total of 12 deaths at the facility. The facility is now reporting that 38 residents and 19 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. The ongoing nursing facility outbreak combined with a spike of 119 active cases over a 73-hour period made Sullivan draw the line. “We are heading in the wrong, wrong direction,” she said. “An incidence rate of more than 25 cases per 100,000 people is the red zone risk level,” Sullivan said. “We are in the red zone, and then some.” Butte-Silver Bow county has a positivity rate of 19.60%, which means that almost one in five people being tested in Butte-Silver Bow are positive with the virus. Cautions against groups gathering, against activities that attract crowds, the need for people to distance, just aren’t resonating with a segment of our population,” Sullivan said.

40 residents at Kalispell’s Brendan House assisted living facility in the Flathead have tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak began last week. Four residents are now being treated in the hospital, with the rest in isolation in the Brendan House facility.

Helena schools are facing COVID staffing shortages that could force some schools back fully online. Around 10% of Helena School District employees currently aren’t able to work in person because of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, those who are remaining home because of symptoms, those in quarantine as a close contact of someone who tested positive, and those who are taking care of someone in quarantine. Teachers who have to stay at home can still work with their classes online, but if students are on campus, someone needs to be there to supervise them.