As of Wednesday, October 7, 2020, Montana reports 16,063 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with another new high number of new coronavirus cases, 733, reported in the last day: 211 in Missoula County, (49 reported yesterday), 116 in Yellowstone County, 83 in Glacier County, 73 in Flathead County, 48 in Gallatin County, 21 in Cascade County, 18 in Blaine County, 17 in Beaverhead County, 16 in Hill County, 14 in Roosevelt County, 13 in Deer Lodge County, 11 in Lake County, and new cases in twenty-three more Montana counties. Statewide, 820 people have been hospitalized, and 235 people are currently being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. There are 5,352 active coronavirus cases in Montana. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Flathead, and Cascade Counties. 193 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 211,000 Americans have died. There have been 7,530,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Coronavirus infections are continuing to mount in the White House. At least 34 people near President Trump, who himself is ill with COVID-19, have contracted the virus in the past few days. The press corps near the White House is down to a skeleton crew as the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, and four press aides have tested positive. So have top Trump aide Stephen Miller and his wife, as well as Admiral Charles Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral, and others close to Trump: Hope Hicks, KellyAnne Conway, Melania Trump, and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie. The White House has not done any contact tracing, and it declined the help of the CDC to do it.

Montana ranks fourth highest in the nation for new coronavirus cases per capita. In the past week, North Dakota reported more new cases per capita than any other state. Hospitalizations for the virus have risen abruptly, forcing health care officials in some towns to send people to faraway hospitals, even across state lines to Montana and South Dakota. The rise in cases and deaths — September was by far the deadliest month for North Dakota since the start of the pandemic — reflects a new phase of the virus in the United States. From Wisconsin to Montana, states in the Midwest and Mountain West, many of which had avoided large outbreaks in earlier months when coastal cities were hard hit, are seeing much more sickness. And in rural portions of the states now reeling, medical resources are quickly stretched thin for residents who can live hours from large hospitals.

The number of new coronavirus cases in Montana reached an all-time high on Wednesday with 733 cases, after Tuesday’s all-time high of 504. Much of the recent statewide increase stems from a handful of counties, including Gallatin County, which, on Wednesday, added 48 new cases, a figure that has been exceeded only three times since the pandemic began — all in the past week. Gallatin County has seen its seven-day rolling average of cases climb from about six or seven new cases per day in early September to 40 new cases per day on Tuesday. The share of tests coming back positive has also climbed above 5%, which could indicate the county is no longer doing enough testing.

On Monday, Yellowstone County Health Officer John Felton said he would enact new rules on Nov. 2, if the infection rate continues to climb. Felton said, “On average, someone lost their mother, their father, their sister, their brother, their grandmother or their grandfather every 32 hours in September, every 32 hours for an entire month.” The county established case count trigger points on Oct. 5 that if surpassed would cap group gatherings and limit the number of people in bars, restaurants, casinos and places of worship. It’s part of an effort to slow the virus’ spread. Flathead County also indicated it is considering new restrictions. Gallatin City-County Health Officer Matt Kelley has said he does not plan to recommend that the Gallatin City-County Board of Health implement new rules locally.