As of Monday, November 16, 2020, Montana reports 48,027 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 869 new cases reported in the last day: 241 in Yellowstone County, 198 in Gallatin County, 66 in Cascade County, 65 in Flathead County, 65 in Lewis & Clark County, 55 in Missoula County, and more new cases in 24 more Montana counties. Statewide, 2,066 people have been hospitalized, and a 453 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. There are 20,009 active coronavirus cases in Montana. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, Cascade County, and Missoula Counties, and in Gallatin and Flathead Counties. 522 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 246,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 11,200,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Biotech company Moderna said Monday that early analysis from its Phase 3 trial shows its Covid-19 vaccine is 94.5 percent effective at preventing the infection, offering hope of a second breakthrough in as many weeks. The news comes a week after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said its vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective. Moderna also said its vaccine does not require ultracold storage, unlike Pfizer’s that has to be stored at temperatures of minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, easing concerns about how to efficiently distribute vaccines to billions of people around the world. Moderna said its analysis did not reveal any significant safety concerns, and the vaccine was generally well tolerated. Its Phase 3 trial enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the United States, including people over 65 with high risk conditions and from communities of color. Even with the promising news, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that “the fact that help is on the way should spur us even more” to double down on public health measures, including wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

A ‘Breakthrough finding’ reveals why certain Covid-19 patients die. Covid-19 patients with life-threatening illness have antibodies that disable key immune system proteins called interferons. In some cases, some people — men in particular — die because their immune systems are hit by friendly fire. Interferons serve as the body’s first line of defense against infection, sounding the alarm and activating an army of virus-fighting genes. “Interferons are like a fire alarm and a sprinkler system all in one,” but Lab studies show that interferons are suppressed in some people with Covid-19, perhaps by the virus itself.

This past week, Montana hit a record for the number of people hospitalized in the state because of the virus. Hospital capacity in Gallatin County has hovered around 80% for the past week. A handful of counties have either hit capacity at some point in the past week or had patients occupying more than 90% of beds.
Nurses at Bozeman’s hospital have had to quarantine because they were considered close contacts to someone outside of the hospital with the disease. Dr. Mark Williams, the hospital’s chief nursing officer, said having health care workers exposed to the virus outside of the hospital is impacting the number of workers available to treat patients at the hospital. “It’s extremely frustrating for our health care team members to witness the impact of COVID inside the hospital and then step out in the community and see what’s happening,” Williams said, “which often appears to be somewhat of a disregard for personal health and safety.” Hospital officials this week began asking employees who are asymptomatic and would otherwise be quarantining to come back to work to keep the hospital running. Health officials said these aren’t people who have tested positive for the disease.

In southeast Alaska at the Yakutat Airport, an Alaska Airlines jetliner struck a brown bear while landing early Saturday evening, killing the animal and causing damage to the plane. None of the passengers or crew members on board the plane were injured. The Boeing 737killed the brown bear sow, but a 2 year old cub was uninjured. Airport crew members had cleared the runway about 10 minutes before the flight was expected to land. The plane landed after dark and crews followed normal procedures for runway checks. The staff did not see signs of wildlife during the check, but the pilots spotted the two bears crossing the runway as the jet slowed after landing.