As of Sunday, July 26, 2020, Montana reports 3,342 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 89 new cases reported in the last day: 29 new cases in Yellowstone County, 16 in Flathead County, 11 in Ravalli County, 8 in Gallatin County, 5 in Cascade County, 4 in Silver Bow County, 3 in each of Lake, Lewis & Clark, and Madison Counties, 2 in Lincoln County, and 1 in each of Broadwater, Carbon, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Valley Counties. Statewide, 199 people have been hospitalized, and 62 people are currently being treated in the hospital for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 872 cases so far, and Gallatin County has had 767 total so far. Montana has 1,217 active cases of COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 463 active cases. Gallatin County has 101 active cases. 46 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 149,000 Americans have died.

Gallatin County has seen its coronavirus cases more than quadruple from only 151 on June 1 to 767 this week. The upswing began with phase two of the state reopening plan, allowing restaurants, bars, gyms and other gathering places to open to more people. Gallatin County has consistently had Montana’s highest or second highest case numbers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged Friday that a significant number of COVID-19 patients do not recover quickly, and instead experience ongoing symptoms, such as fatigue and cough. As many as a third of patients who were never sick enough to be hospitalized are not back to their usual health up to three weeks after their diagnosis. “COVID-19 can result in prolonged illness even among persons with milder outpatient illness, including young adults.” Some patients call themselves “long-haulers” — suffering from debilitating symptoms weeks and even months after their initial infection. One such patient, Kate Porter, is on day 129 of her recovery, and has had low-grade fevers, fatigue, rapid heart beat, shortness of breath and memory and sleep issues since her diagnosis March 17.

Kansas City Chiefs’ guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (doo-vair-nay tar-diff) said he will be sitting out this NFL season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Duvernay-Tardif is the first player to publicly announce that he is opting out of the season. The athlete, who graduated with a medical degree, has been working as an orderly at a long-term care facility in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec. He said, “Being on the frontline during this offseason has given me a different perspective on this pandemic and the stress it puts on individuals and our healthcare system,” he said. “I cannot allow myself to potentially transmit the virus in our own communities simply to play the sport that I love. If I am to take risks, I will do it caring for patients.” The NFL and the Players Association agreed to an opt-out plan that would pay a stipend to players who wish to sit out the 2020 season.

Bozeman Public Schools are weighing options for students to return to school this fall. To make in-person instruction possible, cloth face coverings or masks will be required for all staff and students in pre-kindergarten to grade 12. There will always be an option for students to learn 100% from home for those parents who aren’t comfortable sending their children to school. Assignments are going to be “ramped up,” and some online lessons will be taught in real time, so students will check in with their teachers.

Of the options for Bozeman schools this fall, one option is teaching classes 100% online, as happened after spring break. The second option is teaching classes 100% in person. Third is a “blended” option of in-person and remote instruction, with students in school two days a week and learning from home three days a week. That option would place 10 to 15 students in a classroom. What school administrators are really focusing on is the fourth option, which is a “cohort” model. It would give students 100% face-to-face instruction, and allow all students to be at school at the same time, while limiting the number of interactions between kids during the school day to limit the virus’s spread. Elementary classes would let kids from two classrooms interact at lunch or recess, or up to 50 students. Middle and high school students would have block schedules. Instead of students attending seven class periods per day of nearly an hour each, classes would be about 90 minutes long, with schedules spread out over two days. For school lunches, Bozeman schools plan to offer students grab-and-go sack lunches, rather than have them stand in cafeteria lines. Students could eat in large spaces like gyms, he said.

Big city districts from Seattle and Los Angeles to Houston and Atlanta have decided their kids won’t start the school year with face-to-face instruction because the largely airborne virus is spreading out of control. Seattle Public Schools last week scrapped plans to bring students back into school buildings this fall on alternate days, after an upswing in virus cases. Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau, who previously served eight years as Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, recommended Seattle schools conduct fall classes with remote instruction only.