As of Saturday, September 19, 2020, Montana has surpassed 10,000 coronavirus cases. Montana reports 10,163 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with three consecutive days of new high numbers of coronavirus cases, with 217 new cases Thursday, 224 Friday, and 293 Saturday. There were 89 in Yellowstone County, 40 in Flathead County, 25 in Deer Lodge County, 22 in Cascade County, 21 in Roosevelt County, 19 in Missoula County, 15 in Gallatin County, 11 in Silver Bow County, 9 in Big Horn and in Custer Counties, 5 in Valley County, 4 in each of Lake, Ravalli, and Rosebud Counties, 3 in Jefferson County, 2 in each of Hill, Richland, and Sheridan Counties, and 1 in each of seven more counties: Carbon, Fergus, Lewis & Clark, Lincoln, Toole, Wheatland, and Wibaux Counties. Statewide, 567 people have been hospitalized, and 104 people currently are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 2,797 cases so far. Gallatin County has had 1,200. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,454. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 930 active cases. Gallatin County has 62. 156 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. 10 more deaths have been reported in Montana of COVID-19 since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 198,000 Americans have died. There have been 6,750,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Gallatin County is seeing an increase in coronavirus cases, including at Montana State University, which reported seven confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past week, as well as a large cluster of cases. Montana State University is reporting its cases on a weekly basis to the health department. Gallatin County has seen more cases in the last few days, which the health department says coincides with Labor Day weekend. The cluster of cases on campus is significant, said the county health officer. It’s expected that with more test results, more cases will be confirmed. Gallatin County is also seeing cases in other group settings, including two assisted living facilities and a day care. This, as the Bozeman School District is set to vote on a possible transition to five days a week of in-person classes for students.

Even as movie theaters, gyms and salons are opening and some states are allowing limited indoor dining, daily life in the U.S. won’t get back to normal until late 2021 when a vaccine for COVID-19 could be widely distributed, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert. As the U.S. is plateauing at a high level of around 40,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths a day, Fauci also voiced concerns about states starting to resume certain indoor activities like dining. Fauci says, “Being indoors absolutely increases the risk” of transmission. I am concerned when I see things starting indoors, and that becomes more compelling when you move into fall and winter season.” The CDC has found that adults who tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to report having eaten at a restaurant in the past two weeks.

A letter sent to the White House containing the deadly poison ricin was intercepted. The letter, addressed to President Donald Trump, was detected at an off-site facility that screens mail addressed to the White House. Other letters that also tested positive for ricin were discovered in different facilities. While it is unclear how many additional poisoned letters were found, most of them seem to be addressed to prisons. Only one was apparently addressed to a political figure. Ricin is highly toxic and can cause nausea, vomiting, and internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines. Depending on the severity of the exposure, it can also cause failure of the liver, spleen and kidneys, and death by the collapse of the circulatory system.