As of Thursday, November 19, 2020, Montana reports 51,818 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,236 new cases reported in the last day: 168 in Gallatin County, 164 in Cascade County, 120 in Missoula County, 118 in Silver Bow County, 115 in Flathead County, 102 in Yellowstone County, 78 in Ravalli County, 55 in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 39 more Montana counties. Statewide, 2,221 people have been hospitalized, and a 482 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. There are 20,780 active coronavirus cases in Montana. The most active cases are in Yellowstone County, Cascade County, and Missoula Counties, and in Gallatin and Flathead Counties. 561 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 250,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 11,600,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

On Wednesday, the United States surpassed a grim milestone of 250,000 deaths from Covid-19. In the current coronavirus spike, Montana in just the past week has recorded the most coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Nationwide, three states– Wisconsin, New Mexico, and New Jersey—hit new record highs for COVID-19 cases Wednesday. And another three US states and a territory—Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico–set records for the number of people dead due to COVID-19 Wednesday.

The CDC is warning Americans: Do not travel for Thanksgiving. Citing an “exponential growth” in Covid-19 cases, federal public health officials urge people to stay home. Even spending the holiday nearby — like at a neighbor’s house just down the street — can be risky, the CDC said. There is no question that when multiple households gather, cases of COVID-19 rise dramatically. Spikes occurred after Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day. Thanksgiving — the most heavily traveled holiday in the U.S. — is sure to follow suit. But the holiday is a particular challenge with the potential to be even more dangerous. Colder weather across much of the country means open-air gatherings are impractical and consistent mask use is impossible while eating and drinking. The holiday also comes as average daily cases in the U.S. are higher than at any point in the pandemic.

New lockdowns and restrictions are taking effect across the US as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. In Chicago, a sweeping stay-at-home advisory to slow the spread of the virus went into effect Monday. In Philadelphia, new restrictions were announced, and New York may be forced to close the country’s largest public school system and resume remote learning. Over the weekend, the governors of several Northeastern states / that were hit the hardest / early on / in the pandemic / held a summit in which they discussed, in particular, the private gatherings that have been fueling the COVID-19 spread and sending the hospitalization rate spiking.

Gov. Steve Bullock issued a new directive Tuesday, implementing several measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Montana. The new directives limit all public gathering and events to 25 people where social distance is not possible. A face covering rule now applied for all Montana counties. The directive says though the group size limit applies only to public gatherings, it urges Montanans in the strongest terms to limit involvement in any gatherings of 15 or more people, including private get togethers inside a home. Bars, restaurants and casinos capacity is limited to 50%, with closing times no later than 10 p.m Those establishments must provide 6 feet of physical distancing between groups, and tables must be limited to six people per table. The new measures will go into effect at 5 a.m. this Friday and expire at the end of the declared state of emergency. The state is offering more CARES Act money for businesses that follow the directive. This comes as other states announced more stringent new restrictions, which include a two-week freeze on many activities in Oregon and a three-week pause on many types of social gatherings in Michigan. Other states have quarantine periods in place for people traveling from out-of-state or require visitors to test negative for COVID-19 before their arrival. The new measures in Montana are similar to those announced by Maryland.