As of Monday, October 4, 2021, Montana reports 153,479 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,456 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 199 new cases in Missoula County, 149 new cases in Yellowstone County, 146 new cases in Cascade County, 142 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, 124 new cases in Flathead County, 108 new cases in Gallatin County, and more new cases in 39 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 11,498. Every one of Montana’s 56 counties reports active cases. Currently, 419 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 2,022 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 701,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 43,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

An oil pipeline ruptured and has caused an oil spill about four miles off the coast of California near Huntington Beach. The pipeline owner, Amplify Energy, is a small, independent oil company active in oil production and drilling in the area. The massive oil spill off the Orange County coast has fouled protected wetlands in the area.

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all suffered outages midday Monday, according to public statements from the three Facebook services. Outage tracking site Down Detector logged tens of thousands of reports for each of the services.

About 400 people gathered Saturday on the front lawn of the Montana State Capitol in Helena to rally for women’s reproductive rights, and Women’s Marches were taking place at the same time all around the state and nation. Saturday’s event was one of more than 600 nationwide, with five others taking place in Montana.

A Billings judge late Thursday halted the implementation of three new abortion laws set to take effect at midnight Friday morning after a flurry of last-minute legal filings. Yellowstone County District Court Judge Michael Moses granted Planned Parenthood of Montana’s request for a temporary restraining order.