As of Thursday, June 17, 2021, Montana reports 113,092 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 69 new cases reported in the last day: 21 new cases in Yellowstone County, 16 new cases in Cascade County, 7 new cases in Flathead County, 4 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, 4 new cases in Missoula County, and more new cases in 10 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 516. Currently, 55 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Cascade and Flathead Counties. 1,651 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Two more deaths have been reported in the last day. Nationwide, more than 600,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, which means about one in every 550 people in the US has died from the virus. There have been 33,500,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

A former White House adviser says the dangerous coronavirus variant, the Delta variant, is ‘like Covid on steroids’. Andy Slavitt said, “The Delta variant is a more virulent strain. You can be around people for less time and still get exposed.”

A United States mall owner has filed for bankruptcy. Washington Prime Group, a major mall owner of more than 100 locations across the United States including Southgate Mall in Missoula, cited pandemic-related shutdowns, saying Covid-19 “created significant challenges.”

All five crew members aboard a fire helicopter survived a crash landing Tuesday evening as residents between Townshend and White Sulphur Springs were being evacuated amid the Deep Creek Canyon fire that has burned more than 2,000 acres. The helicopter from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation was coming in for a landing when it crash landed due to high winds, tipped onto its side and caught on fire.