As of Monday, February 15, 2021, Montana reports 97,539 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 121 new cases reported in the last day: 32 in Flathead County, 14 in Missoula County, 12 in Lewis & Clark County, 11 in Yellowstone County, and more new cases in 18 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,735. Statewide, 4,444 people have been hospitalized. Currently, 92 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Flathead, Gallatin and Lewis & Clark Counties. 1,328 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 485,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 27,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

New Orleans businesses will be shut down for Mardi Gras. Citing coronavirus-related concerns, Mayor LaToya Cantrell says that all bars in the city will be closed for five days — from the Friday before Mardi Gras through Fat Tuesday itself, which falls on Feb. 16 this year. Liquor sales are not allowed in the French Quarter, even from liquor stores, and to-go beverages are banned during those five days. Already, parades and large gatherings were prohibited, and masks and social distancing are required. New Orleans officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of Mardi Gras 2020, which attracted more than a million people to New Orleans to celebrate Carnival and unknowingly contributed to the outbreak and caused the city’s hospitals to reach capacity.

Health officials in Guinea on Sunday confirmed that at least three people have died from Ebola there, the first cases declared since it was one of three West African nations to fight the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic that ended five years ago. An additional four people are confirmed with Ebola, according to a statement from Guinea’s ministry of health. All seven positive cases attended the funeral of a nurse in Goueke on Feb. 1 and later showed Ebola symptoms including a fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. The government has declared an Ebola epidemic and started contact tracing and isolating suspected cases. It’s also sent an emergency team to support local teams in Goueke and has accelerated the procurement of Ebola vaccines from the World Health Organization.

A backcountry skier has died of injuries sustained in an avalanche Sunday in the Beehive Basin area near Big Sky. Two backcountry skiers had been caught in an avalanche in Beehive Basin at 11:44 a.m. Sunday. The two were splitboarding, or using snowboards that can be separated into ski-like halves. The two people were skinning up slope when they felt the snow slope collapse and saw cracks spreading around them. One of them was able to grab trees as he was swept downward with the avalanche, stopping himself, while the other person was carried downslope and into a tree before being partially buried. The uninjured, unburied skier heard his partner yelling for help and called 911. The Big Sky Fire Department and search and rescue members got to avalanche site and were able to begin a rescue that ultimately ended with the injured person being flown by helicopter to an ambulance. The skier was then taken to the Big Sky Medical Center before being transported to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital. He later died of his injuries.