As of Friday, November 20, 2020, Montana reports 53,293 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,475 new cases reported in the last day: 237 in Ravalli County, 195 in Yellowstone County, 166 in Missoula County, 133 in Silver Bow County, 120 in Gallatin County, 104 in Lewis & Clark County, 95 in Flathead County, 60 in Cascade County, and more new cases in 36 more Montana counties. Statewide, 2,252 people have been hospitalized, and a record 506 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana has risen to 22,169. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, Cascade County, and Missoula Counties, and Gallatin and Flathead Counties. 567 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 252,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 11,800,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Coronavirus cases are rising in almost every U.S. state. But the surge is worst now in places where leaders neglected to keep up forceful virus containment efforts or failed to implement basic measures like mask mandates in the first place. States and cities are reinstating restrictions and implementing new ones: In recent days, the governors of Iowa, North Dakota and Utah imposed mask mandates for the first time since the outbreak began.

The CDC is warning Americans: Do not travel for Thanksgiving. Citing an “exponential growth” in Covid-19 cases, federal public health officials urge people to stay home. Even spending the holiday nearby — like at a neighbor’s house just down the street — can be risky, the CDC said. There is no question that when multiple households gather, cases of COVID-19 rise dramatically. Spikes occurred after Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day.

Thanksgiving — the most heavily traveled holiday in the U.S. — is sure to follow suit. But the holiday is a particular challenge with the potential to be even more dangerous. Colder weather across much of the country means open-air gatherings are impractical and consistent mask use is impossible while eating and drinking. The holiday also comes as average daily cases in the U.S. are higher than at any point in the pandemic. Anyone flying to Hawaii will be required to have a negative COVID-19 test result prior to their departure for the state, with the new rule going into effect two days before Thanksgiving.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer will submit an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Friday for an emergency use authorization for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. Early results from Pfizer’s Phase 3 clinical trials yielded promising news: Two shots, given three weeks apart, appeared to be 95 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are poised to have 50 million doses available this year and 1.3 billion doses in 2021, using facilities both in the U.S. and Belgium.

The antiviral drug remdesivir should not be used as treatment for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, the World Health Organization said Thursday, only a month after the FDA approved the drug to treat patients over age 12 who are hospitalized with Covid-19.
Remdesivir, also known as Veklury, and the steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs authorized to treat Covid-19 patients. But a recent massive global study of remdesivir’s effectiveness, run by the WHO, showed that remdesivir had little or no impact on hospitalized patients, contradicting previous trials. Because remdesivir is thought to work by stopping the virus from replicating, it is likely to have more impact earlier in the course of the illness, not with hospitalized, critical patients.

1 in Every 1,000 North Dakota residents has been killed by COVID. North Dakota is battling the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in the world. The majority of North Dakota’s deaths and cases (which have now left around 1 in 12 residents infected with the virus) came in the past two months. If North Dakota continues to report Covid-19 deaths at the same rate for the next few months, it is on track to overtake New Jersey as the deadliest state in the pandemic. Until last Friday, when the state reported a new daily record for hospitalizations and infections, North Dakota governor Burgum had refused to order a mask mandate in North Dakota, consistently emphasizing the importance of a “light touch” from the government in handling the pandemic. Meanwhile, healthcare professionals and community leaders in the state had advocated for restrictions for months.

A third inmate at Montana State Prison has died of COVID-19. The Montana Department of Corrections reports “deaths in custody”. The deceased is Gene Richard Meredith, who died at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula of COVID-19. He was 62.

Two popular area bars were sent warning letters on Thursday stating they were violating 10 p.m. closing times implemented by the health board. The Rocking R Bar in Bozeman and JRs Lounge in Belgrade were warned after police found they remained open on several instances past the implemented closing times. Earlier this month, Gallatin County’s board of health passed new restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The rules restrict gatherings to 25 people, reduce most businesses’ capacity to 50% and require bars and restaurants to close by 10 p.m.