As of Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Montana reports 254,231 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,032 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 168 new cases in Cascade County, 124 new cases in Missoula County, 86 new cases in Gallatin County, 84 new cases in Yellowstone County, and more new cases in 47 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 8,340. All of Montana’s 56 counties report active cases. Currently, 309 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 3,051 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Eight more people’s deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 908,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 77,000,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

As more states plan to lift mask mandates in schools, teachers unions are calling for the mandate rollbacks to be informed by science, not politics, as mask-wearing has become an increasingly polarized issue.

A 64-year-old New York man died Tuesday after a snowmobile wreck near Big Sky. Anthony Pace was snowmobiling on the Buck Ridge Trail in Big Sky at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning when he struck a tree and went into cardiac arrest.

A lawsuit filed by 16 young Montanans against the Montana state government over concerns of policies they say favor fossil fuels and lead to climate change will have its day in court. The lawsuit was filed nearly two years ago against the governor, the state Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Montana Department of Transportation, and the Public Service Commission by the lead plaintiff Rikki Held, of Broadus, who was joined by youths who at that time were between the ages of 2-18 years old. The group alleges they are harmed by the state’s energy policy that promotes fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas, leading to climate change.