As of Wednesday, December 2, 2020, Montana reports 64,340 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 937 new cases reported in the last day: 147 in Gallatin County, 147 in Yellowstone County, 137 in Lewis & Clark County, 98 in Flathead County, 72 in Cascade County, 56 in Missoula County, 33 in Silver Bow County, and more new cases in 38 more Montana counties. Statewide, 2,733 people have been hospitalized, and 478 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 16,094. The most active cases are in Yellowstone and Flathead County, Cascade, Lewis & Clark, and Missoula Counties. 713 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Fifteen more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 273,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 13,900,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The Trump White House is hosting as many as 20 indoor holiday parties this season, even as the coronavirus task force warns states that the pandemic is “in a very dangerous place” and top health officials have cautioned against indoor celebrations. One such White House holiday party was held Tuesday night and included a brief appearance by President Donald Trump. Pictures from the event show several attendees not wearing masks, including Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel. McDaniel tested positive for Covid-19 in late September after spending time with the president, who also tested positive around the same time. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany shrugged off the concerns that the gatherings could set a bad example for Americans as they head into the holiday season. McEnany said some safety measures are in place, but similar measures were in effect at the White House for an election night celebration. Several attendees of that event, including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, tested positive for the virus afterward. A series of September White House events, both indoors and outdoors, introducing Amy Coney Barrett as Trump’s Supreme Court nominee also became what Dr. Anthony Fauci called a “superspreader” event.

The CDC is shortening the recommended quarantine period from 14 days after a person has been exposed to the coronavirus, offering two alternatives.
Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s Covid-19 incident manager, said that The first alternative is to end quarantine after 10 days if no symptoms are reported. The second option is to end quarantine after seven days if an individual tests negative and also reports no symptoms.

1 in every 800 North Dakota residents are now dead from COVID. Just two weeks after joining the growing list of states where at least one in every 1,000 residents has died from coronavirus-linked causes, North Dakota’s grim statistic has escalated, and now it’s one in every 800. North Dakota has become the eighth deadliest state in the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins

A New Orleans swingers convention has led to 41 Covid-19 infections so far, the event organizer says. Naughty Events, which hosted the convention, said the company has reached out to attendees and conducted “very aggressive” contact tracing. The four-day swingers convention “Naughty N’awlins”, which began on Nov. 11, has caused illness from coronavirus. Cases jumped from five positive tests to 41 confirmed cases in a matter of days, with many more expected.