Montana has a terrible outbreak of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19. Please, everyone, stop gathering. Wear a face mask over your nose and mouth whenever you’re out of your own home. Keep your distance from others.

As of Saturday, November 7, 2020, Montana reports 38,948 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with another new record high number of coronavirus cases, 1,086, reported in the last day: 243 in Flathead County, 138 in Gallatin County, 138 in Yellowstone County, 111 in Missoula County, 51 in Cascade County, 48 in Lewis & Clark County, 34 in Carbon County, 30 in Ravalli County, and more new cases in 38 more Montana counties. Four days in the past week, record high new daily cases were reported. Statewide, 1,465 people have been hospitalized, and a record 446 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19, including more than 80 in intensive care units and 51 on ventilators as of Thursday. There are 14,678 active coronavirus cases in Montana. In the past month, the number of active cases in Montana has more than tripled. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, Gallatin County, and Cascade County, and Lewis & Clark and Missoula Counties. 445 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. In just the past seven days, 70 Montanans have died of COVID-19. More than half of all the COVID deaths in Montana occurred in the last month. Nationwide, more than 237,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 9,940,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the general election for President and Vice President of the United States. President-elect Joe Biden addressed the nation Saturday night for the first time after winning the White House, delivering a message of unity and healing to a bitterly divided nation. Biden promised the captivated crowd of supporters at his campaign headquarters “to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify.” “To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans,” Biden said. “This is the time to heal in America,” he added, amid a chorus of blaring car horns and screams. Biden vowed to “work with all my heart for the confidence of the whole people. To win the confidence of all people.” Biden repeatedly nodded to the history-making moment his victory ushered in, with his running mate, Kamala Harris, becoming the first-ever woman, Black and South Asian American to be elected vice president. Harris, wearing suffragette white, introduced the president-elect to the stage after remarks that paid tribute to her barrier-breaking moment and the women who inspired her. Biden explicitly promised that controlling the pandemic would be his top priority. “Our work begins with getting Covid under control,” he said.

A nursing facility in Butte has reported 10 COVID-19 deaths in less than two weeks. At least 148 residents of Montana long-term care facilities and assisted living facilities have died of COVID-19.

Belgrade High School will be fully remote until the end of November because of staffing shortages and cases of coronavirus. The school had been 19 teachers short for the 950-student school on Thursday and had only two substitutes available. As of Thursday, Belgrade High School had five staff that had tested positive, others quarantined because of close contacts, and 12 students that tested positive for coronavirus.

The Gallatin County health board on Friday instituted new restrictions to try to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Bars, restaurants and casinos must close by 10 p.m. and must limit group sizes at tables to six people. Higher risk businesses, such as gyms, bars, and restaurants must limit patrons to 50% of capacity. Group gatherings are limited to no more than 25 people, whether inside or outside or whether physical distancing can be maintained.