Montana has a terrible outbreak of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19. Please, everyone, stop gathering. Wear a face mask over your nose and mouth whenever you’re out of your own home. Keep your distance from others.

As of Friday, November 13, 2020, Montana reports 44,244 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with another record-high number of new cases, 1,214, reported in the last day: 171 in Silver Bow County, 126 in Gallatin County, 121 in Flathead County, 119 in Cascade County, 96 in Lewis & Clark County, 82 in Missoula County, 71 in Yellowstone County, and more new cases in 32 more Montana counties. Statewide, 1,556 people have been hospitalized, and a 492 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is the highest to date, at 18,378. 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, Missoula, Lewis & Clark, and Flathead Counties. 477 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 243,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 10,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

In the months since March, many Americans have habituated to the horrors of the pandemic. But health-care workers do not have the luxury of looking away: They’re facing a third pandemic surge that is bigger and broader than the previous two. In the U.S., states now report more people in the hospital with COVID-19 than at any other point this year—and 40 percent more than just two weeks ago. Emergency rooms are starting to fill again with COVID-19 patients. Utah is currently reporting four times its summer peak, with Utah intensive-care units housing twice as many patients. The entire state of Iowa is now out of staffed hospital beds in every facility. Hospitals have put their pandemic plans into action, adding more beds and creating makeshift COVID-19 wards. But in the hardest-hit areas, there are simply not enough doctors, nurses, and other specialists to staff those beds. Some health-care workers report that COVID-19 patients are the sickest people they’ve ever cared for: They require twice as much attention as a typical intensive-care-unit patient, for three times the normal length of stay.

Pfizer’s announcement Monday of a potentially effective coronavirus vaccine triggered a wave of hope and optimism, but officials warn that a vaccine, even one with promising early results, cannot do anything to stop a grueling winter, with outbreaks growing rapidly across the country and record hospitalization rates threatening to overwhelm health care resources. Doctors caution that We can celebrate good vaccine news, but we still have to be careful.

Great Falls Christmas Stroll, Parade of Lights canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic, and cities around the state, including Bozeman, have instituted more restrictions on gathering, business hours and capacity, and school protocols to try to slow the spread of coronavirus.

A person in the Montana Secretary of State’s office has tested positive for coronavirus, closing that office. The Secretary of State’s office is in the state capitol building in Helena, which also houses the state legislature, the governor’s office, and legislative audit and fiscal divisions, and the budget office. The COVID-19 case in the Secretary of State’s office is at least the third in the Capitol building. On Oct. 28, the governor’s office said a member of its staff had tested positive for the virus. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney were tested, the results of which came back negative, as a precaution. At a press conference the following day Bullock said another staff member tested positive. Next week, newly elected and returning legislators from all around the state are scheduled to meet either remotely or in person in Helena, in the capitol building, an event now cast into question with positive coronavirus cases there.

Skipping family gatherings for the holiday season of 2020 might just ensure you get to see those family members in 2021. Please, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, stay home.