As of Wednesday, September 22, 2021, Montana reports 143,826 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,326 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 225 new cases in Yellowstone County, 132 new cases in Cascade County, 118 new cases in Flathead County, 105 new cases in Missoula County, and more new cases in 48 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 10,296. There are active coronavirus cases in 55 of 56 Montana counties. Currently, 395 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 1,914 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Thirteen more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 679,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 42,400,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The CDC urges all pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine as hospitals see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated pregnant women seriously ill with the virus. Expectant women run a higher risk of severe illness and pregnancy complications from the coronavirus, including miscarriages and stillbirths. But the vaccination rate is low in pregnant women; only about 23 percent have received at least one dose.

As COVID-19 cases surge in Montana, with stubbornly unvaccinated people driving dramatic increases in demands on hospitals, the state is sending 70 Montana National Guard members to help hospitals around the state. Already, 10 Guard members are assisting at Billings Clinic and seven at the state laboratory in Helena, which processes COVID tests.

Montana’s monopoly public utility, NorthWestern Energy, will build a new natural gas-fired power plant in Laurel, moving forward without regulatory approval. NorthWestern informed the Montana Public Service Commission Tuesday that it was withdrawing its request for regulatory approval to build the gas-fired power plant, which will have a capacity of 175 megawatts of electricity, about 78% the size of the utility’s share in Colstrip Unit 4, the coal-fired power plant.