As of Thursday, December 31, 2020, Montana reports 81,555 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 628 new cases reported in the last day: 135 in Gallatin County, 76 in Lewis & Clark County, 71 in Yellowstone County, 57 in Flathead County, 42 in Missoula County, 26 in Silver Bow County, 23 in Cascade County, 22 in Sanders County, and more new cases in 32 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 5,603. Statewide, 3,568 people have been hospitalized, and 203 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Cascade, and Lewis & Clark County. 961 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Eleven more deaths have been reported in the last day. Nationwide, more than 346,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 20,000,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The new variant of the coronavirus has been found in Florida, and more cases have been identified in California. The strain first detected in the U.K. has now been reported in three states. As the variant is detected in more places, officials in San Diego County, California, said the strain, which is sometimes known as B.1.1.7., has been identified in three more people in San Diego County, bringing the number of confirmed cases there to four. The Covid-19 variant is believed to be more transmissible but not more deadly than the strain that started the pandemic, and there is no evidence that vaccines are any less effective against it, health officials say. The variant has been found in other countries, including Canada, where cases have been reported in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, according to Canada’s chief public health officer.

Colorado was the first state to announce a confirmed case of the variant, which was found in a National Guard member. The case was announced Tuesday. Another guard member may also have it, the state epidemiologist said Wednesday. On Wednesday, when California announced its first case in a San Diego man, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said more cases are likely. In Florida, the state Health Department tweeted that the strain was identified in a 20-year-old man in Martin County with no history of travel. The California case announced Wednesday in San Diego County involved a 30-year-old man, also with no history of travel. The three new cases were all men, two in their 40s and one in his 50s, and none had known contact with one another or the first case, the county said. “The discovery of the additional cases leads County Health Officials to believe that the new strain of the virus is widespread in the community,” the county said in a statement.

A surge in Covid-19 cases is threatening to overwhelm California’s hospitals. On Thursday, San Diego County reported its highest single-day number of new deaths, 62. Health officials have stressed that the best way to avoid getting what is referred to as the U.K. variant is the same as for other forms of the coronavirus: washing hands, keeping away from crowds and other people and wearing a mask.

Sen. David Perdue, facing a tight runoff election in Georgia, will quarantine after someone on his re-election team tested positive for Covid-19. Perdue was scheduled to rally with President Donald Trump in Georgia ahead of the runoff elections that will decide control of the Senate. The move will force him to miss crucial time on the campaign trail just days ahead of his runoff Tuesday against Democrat Jon Ossoff.