As of Friday, September 4, 2020, Montana reports 8,019 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 149 new cases reported in the last day: 30 in Yellowstone County, 24 in Deer Lodge County, 16 in Rosebud County, 12 in Flathead County, 9 in Gallatin County and in Cascade County, 8 in Big Horn County and in Lake County, 7 in Lewis & Clark County, 4 in Roosevelt County, 3 in each of Hill, Missoula, and Toole Counties, 2 in each of Fergus and Jefferson Counties, and 1 in each of nine more Montana counties: Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Madison, Musselshell, Park, Ravalli, Sweet Grass, and Valley Counties. Statewide, 474 people have been hospitalized, and 150 are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 2,230 cases so far. Gallatin County has had 1,097. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,084. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 1,011 active cases. Gallatin County has 24. 114 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 187,000 Americans have died. There have been 6,170,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The Butte Schools Superintendent announced a positive COVID-19 case at Butte High School, but did not specify whether the patient is a student or staff member. Contact tracing is underway and people will be notified by the health department. School will continue as scheduled.

38 Montana State University students have contracted coronavirus since Aug. 1, with six of those cases active as of Friday. Montana State University is not reporting its case numbers, instead relaying the numbers to the county health department. The University of Montana is reporting its case numbers weekly.

Americans are heading into Labor Day weekend — the unofficial end to the Lost Summer of 2020 — amid warnings from public health experts that backyard parties, crowded bars and other gatherings could cause the coronavirus to come surging back. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said he looks upon the Labor Day weekend really as a critical point.” The rise in coronavirus infections, COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations over the summer, primarily in the South and West, was blamed in part on Americans behaving heedlessly over Memorial Day and July Fourth. And a few states are now heading into the holiday with less room in hospitals.

Researchers are starting to pinpoint the ways in which smoking and vaping are a risk factor for catching coronavirus, and how smoking and vaping may give rise to some of COVID-19’s worst respiratory symptoms. Several studies have found that smoking can more than double a person’s risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms, and a team of researchers recently reported that young adults who vape are five times more likely to receive a coronavirus diagnosis.