As of Tuesday, January 4, 2022, Montana reports 199,455 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 935 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since last Thursday: 314 new cases in Gallatin County, 171 new cases in Yellowstone County, 107 new cases in Missoula County, 60 new cases in Flathead County, 53 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, 36 new cases in Cascade County, and more new cases in 38 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 3,738. Currently, 137 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 2,911 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 826,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 56,200,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus now accounts for 95% of new US COVID-19 infections, a rate significantly higher than the previous week. Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest pediatric hospital in the US, reported a more than four-fold increase in child hospitalizations from COVID-19 over the last two weeks, spurred by the spread of the Omicron and Delta variants over the holiday season.

A fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine boosts a person’s antibodies fivefold in the space of a week, a preliminary Israeli study shows, supporting the country’s decision to offer a second booster shot to high-risk groups. The study shows a very high likelihood that the fourth dose will protect vaccinated people to a great degree against infection and to some degree against severe symptoms.

The Montana State women’s basketball team’s next two games, including Cat-Griz, have been postponed because of COVID-19 cases and exposure. The Bobcats were scheduled to host Idaho at 7 p.m. Thursday and the University of Montana at 1 p.m. Sunday but will be pushing them back “due to COVID-19 protocols within the Bobcat program”.

The Montana State University Bobcats play for the national title on Saturday, and the NCAA has a contingency plan for the Football Championship Subdivision championship game if either Montana State or North Dakota State have COVID-19 issues. MSU coach Brent Vigen does not expect to miss any players due to COVID.