As of Saturday, August 22, 2020, Montana reports 6,376 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 167 new cases reported in the last day: 84 in Yellowstone County, 20 in Flathead County, 14 in Big Horn County, 10 in Rosebud County, 7 in Gallatin County, 6 in Glacier County, 3 in each of Cascade, Lewis & Clark, Roosevelt, and Silver Bow Counties, 2 in each of Missoula, Phillips, Pondera, Ravalli, and Richland Counties, and 1 in each of Beaverhead, Dawson, Deer Lodge, and Hill Counties. Statewide, 378 people have been hospitalized, and 110 people are currently being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 1,773 cases so far. Gallatin County has had 1,011. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,471. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 758 active cases. Gallatin County has 33 active cases. 90 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 175,000 Americans have died. There have been 5,650,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Another outbreak of COVID-19 has been reported in a nursing home in Montana. 14 residents and employees with Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center have tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak marks yet another occurrence of coronavirus illness at a Montana nursing facility. The pandemic hit hard in Billings, where sixteen of the 55 residents at Canyon Creek Memory Care have died of COVID-19. In another Yellowstone County senior living facility, a man died of COVID-19 at that facility. And there has been an outbreak of coronavirus cases in an assisted living facility in Cascade County.

Five inmates in the Yellowstone County jail in Billings have tested positive for COVID-19. Four women and one man are quarantining in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility. Four of six women detainees tested positive. One male inmate who tested positive is quarantined with two other men after exhibiting symptoms. None of the five people have been hospitalized, and all were being treated at the jail. As of yet, no Yellowstone County Jail officers have tested positive for coronavirus.

Fifteen Minnesotans who attended the massive motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota have tested positive for COVID-19 and one of them is hospitalized. Minnesota health officials said they expect more residents who attended the Sturgis rally Aug. 7 through Aug. 16 to test positive for the virus. Hundreds of thousands of people went to the rally, likely the largest mass gathering since the coronavirus pandemic began in March. One of the Minnesotans infected was a worker and the rest attended multiple events at Sturgis. The cases are separate from other cases that have been reported in workers at a bar and tattoo parlor at the South Dakota rally. The Sturgis rally was held despite warnings about large gatherings being hotspots for spreading the coronavirus. The South Dakota Department of Health recommends mask wearing and social distancing. Neither recommendations appeared to be followed by most of the Sturgis attendees. Coronavirus infections linked to the rally have been reported in South Dakota, Nebraska and now Minnesota.

Two players for the New York Mets have tested positive for coronavirus, prompting Major League Baseball to postpone this weekend’s Subway Series to allow for further testing and contact tracing. Other Mets games had to be postponed, too: a scheduled game Thursday night in Miami, and against the Yankees in New York. The league now has postponed 36 games this season because of positive tests and illness in players for the Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and the New York Mets.

In one of the smallest population counties in Montana, Roosevelt County, six people have died from car crashes in the past week. Fatal crashes occurred last Friday, Saturday and Monday in the northern Montana county where about 11,000 people live. Two people were killed in a car crash Friday, August 14 near Culbertson; one person was killed in a crash August 15th Saturday near Poplar, and two people died later Saturday in a crash near Culbertson when a train hit their truck. This past Monday morning, a fatal crash east of Wolf Point left another person dead.