As of Monday, December 21, 2020, Montana reports 77,324 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 266 new cases reported in the last day: 49 in Cascade County, 48 in Lewis & Clark County, 35 in Flathead County, 35 in Missoula County, 18 in Yellowstone County, and more new cases in 21 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 8,003. Statewide, 3,280 people have been hospitalized, and 253 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Cascade, Lewis & Clark County, Missoula, and Flathead Counties. 881 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Sixteen more deaths have been reported in the last day. Nationwide, more than 319,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 18,000,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The U.S. logged a record high number of pediatric Covid-19 cases last week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Last week alone, 182,018 new pediatric cases were reported. Since early December, cases in children have increased by 25 percent. Severe complications of Covid-19 in kids are rare, as are hospitalizations. But studies have shown children can spread the virus as well as anyone else. Death from Covid-19 is relatively rare among children. 172 kids in the U.S. have died from Covid-19.

The number of coronavirus cases in Gallatin County has declined for the fourth consecutive week. The decline in cases is due in part to a reduction in cases at Montana State University, which concluded its fall semester in late November, said Gallatin City-County Health Officer Matt Kelley. This week, MSU added 24 new cases, bringing its total since Aug. 1 to 1,400. In November, the campus was associated with more than 100 cases each week. Daily hospitalizations for COVID-19 have returned to the single-digits after exceeding 30 on some days in November. With the reduction in cases, contact tracers have been able to conduct more robust investigations on new cases, making it easier to track and manage the virus’ spread.

However, Kelley cautioned that the number of new cases in Gallatin County is still too high to do as much contact tracing as he would like. Because the virus is less prevalent than it was in November, the stress on the county’s testing system is easing. Tests are now coming back in about two days, making it easier for people to quickly isolate and quarantine if they test positive. The state’s positivity rate has also declined from its high in mid-November of 19% to 13% in December. Even though COVID-19 cases are declining, Kelley continued to urge vigilance, particularly because the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths are climbing across much of the United States. He said Gallatin County residents must continue to avoid crowds, wear face coverings in public, stay home when sick and practice social distancing.

With Covid-19 linked to heart muscle inflammation known as myocarditis, doctors are concerned about patients returning to physical activity safely. Exercising with myocarditis can lead to irregular heartbeats and sudden cardiac death, a well-documented worry with athletes. After doctors first learned that Covid-19 may cause myocarditis, initial recommendations in May from the American College of Cardiology were quite cautious, urging doctors to perform heart screenings on all athletes and other “highly active” people who had been ill with symptomatic Covid-19– before clearing them to return to physical activity.