As of Saturday, December 26, 2020, Montana reports 79,433 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 527 new cases reported in the last day: 82 in Missoula County, 76 in Yellowstone County, 69 in Lewis & Clark County, 57 in Flathead County, 52 in Gallatin county, 21 in Cascade County, 21 in Silver Bow County, and more new cases in 27 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 6,230. Statewide, 3,429 people have been hospitalized, and 216 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Cascade, Lewis & Clark, Missoula County and Flathead County. 919 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 330,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 18,800,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The Duke women’s basketball team ended its season Friday amid the coronavirus pandemic. The men’s team plans to continue, but coach Mike Krzyzewski has questioned why college basketball was being played in the midst of the pandemic. Krzyzewski cited the rise in Covid-19 cases as dangerous: “People are saying the next six weeks are going to be the worst,” Krzyzewski said. “To me, it’s already pretty bad.” The women’s basketball team has been on pause since Dec. 16 because of two positive Covid-19 tests and contact tracing within the program’s travel party. The Blue Devils postponed four games. The Blue Devils are the first Power Five team to drop out after starting this season. The Ivy League opted out of playing winter sports in November before the basketball season started. A few other schools also decided not to play.

France is rewarding frontline immigrant workers with citizenship. More than 700 have already been granted citizenship or are in the final stages of receiving it. They include healthcare professionals, cleaners and shop workers. Frontline workers around the world have been exposed to Covid-19 at a high rate, with many dying from the disease, including doctors and nurses. Normally a successful applicant must have been resident in France for five years with a stable income and demonstrated integration into French society. But the French government has said frontline Covid workers must only live in France for two years to be eligible for citizenship in recognition of their “great services rendered” during the pandemic.

For the first year ever and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, skiers and snowboarders need to make reservations at Bridger Bowl prior to hitting the slopes. That’s been a learning process, said Erin O’Connor, Bridger Bowl’s marketing and communications director, especially in the early days of the season when only a fraction of the mountain was open because of a lack of snow. Now, all but a few runs at the top of the mountain are open, and Bridger customers and staff are familiarizing themselves with the reservation system and having fewer issues. Reservations go up on Bridger’s website four days in advance. 80% — of the reservations are earmarked for season-pass holders, and the remainder are available for day-pass holders. To help folks with the new and likely one-season-only reservation system, the Bridger Bowl staff created tutorial videos on how to reserve a day to ski, whether it’s with a season pass or a day pass. Those videos are available on Bridger’s website, bridgerbowl.com.