As of Monday, July 6, 2020, Montana reports 1,249 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 37 new cases reported in the last day: fourteen new cases in Missoula County, nine new cases in Yellowstone County, eight in Gallatin County, three new cases in Lewis & Clark County, and one new case in each of Big Horn, Flathead, and Carbon Counties. Statewide, 112 people have been hospitalized, and twenty people are currently being treated in the hospital for COVID-19. Gallatin County has had 305 cases so far. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 149 active cases, followed by Gallatin County, with 83 active cases, and Missoula County, with 74 active cases. There are 548 active cases in the state currently. 23 people have died in Montana of COVID-19, and 678 people have recovered. Nationwide, more than 132,000 Americans have died.

Five Americans who attempted to enter Italy after flying on a private jet from Colorado to the island of Sardinia were denied entry because of the European Union’s coronavirus restrictions. The EU has opened its borders to some countries, but the US has been excluded due to its high coronavirus rates. The travellers eventually flew out of the airport 14 hours after they first landed and flew on towards Birmingham, England. But passengers from the US still have to quarantine for two weeks in the United Kingdom, which has left the European Union, and it is not clear if the travellers disembarked from their plane there.

The Teton County Health Department is warning anyone who went to the Choteau prom, called the Choteau MORP, at the Choteau Country Club on June 27 may have been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19. Everyone who attended the event is being told they should self-quarantine immediately through July 11 and seek COVID-19 testing.

New analysis from the Montana state health department shows that Native Americans account for less than 7 percent of Montana’s population but were a third of the deaths in Montana, 36 percent of the 22 people, from Covid-19. Native Americans represent 15 percent of the state’s total cases, more than double their representation in Montana’s population. Public health experts have said that multigenerational housing and underlying health conditions can contribute to higher rates of infection and mortality from COVID-19 among Indigenous people.

Montana State University’s traditional one-day Move-In Day will be stretched out over seven days in August, when thousands of students are expected to move into the dormitories, to keep people distanced and safer from the coronavirus. Move-In Week will be Aug. 10 to 16. This fall the new $50 million, 510-bed Hyalite Hall dormitory on West College Street will open for the first time. It will increase MSU’s inventory of dorm rooms to 4,400. About 30% of MSU students live on campus. Most bed spaces will be for freshmen. The new residence hall is near capacity. So far, 32 spaces have been set aside to quarantine any students who come down with coronavirus, and more are being considered.

MSU fall classes will start two weeks early, on Aug. 17, so that courses can end at Thanksgiving to reduce students returning after the break and spreading the virus.