As of Sunday, October 4, 2020, Montana reports 14,635 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 298 new cases reported in the last day: 75 in Flathead County, 46 in Yellowstone County, 35 in Gallatin County, 22 in Deer Lodge County, 20 in Cascade County, 17 in Hill and in Toole Counties, 11 in both Lincoln and Rosebud Counties, 10 in Ravalli County, 4 in Jefferson and in Lewis & Clark County, 3 in Glacier, Powell, Teton and Valley Counties, and more new cases in eleven more Montana counties. Statewide, 744 people have been hospitalized, and 191 people currently are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. Yellowstone County has had 3,611 cases so far. Gallatin County has had 1,579. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 4,851. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, with 1,130 active cases. Gallatin County has 313. 187 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 209,000 Americans have died. There have been 7,410,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

President Donald Trump remains hospitalized for COVID-19. The White House physician said Sunday that Trump is now taking another course of drugs for COVID-19, adding to a growing list of treatments for his illness. Dr. Sean Conley said the president was given a steroid called dexamethasone following two episodes when Trump’s oxygen levels dropped too low. Trump received the first dose of the steroid on Saturday. Dexamethasone has shown to be beneficial in those with severe COVID-19 because it can stop the immune system from going into overdrive. When this happens, the immune system can do more harm than good, attacking the body in what’s called a cytokine storm. Dexamethasone is administered to patients with severe cases of COVID-19. For mild cases, the drug can be harmful. NBC News senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres said, “The fact that Trump got the steroid sets up a bit of a red flag that there’s something going on here. I think they might be painting a little bit of a rosy picture for everyone” [about the president’s condition].

Yellowstone National Park reports that 16 employees tested positive for COVID-19 in September, a significant increase in confirmed positive cases from prior months. In September, the number of positive cases among park employees quadrupled, and included seven employees who work for the National Park Service and nine who work for concessions. 8 of the 16 employees have recovered. Over the summer period between May 18 and Aug. 30, four park employees and one contractor tested positive for the virus. It’s been a four-fold increase in coronavirus cases in park employees just in September.

Nearly half of Montana’s confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the month of September as the state continues to see record numbers of cases. In just the past three days, Montana reported almost a thousand new cases of coronavirus infection, COVID-19, and the case numbers are thought to be much higher than reported because not everyone has been tested. Studies show that people can have COVID-19 without having symptoms themselves, while infecting others with coronavirus.