As of Tuesday, January 19, 2021, Montana reports 89,864 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 295 new cases reported in the last day: 78 in Gallatin County, 42 in Yellowstone County, 39 in Missoula County, 28 in Lewis & Clark County, 26 in Cascade County, 17 in Flathead County, and more new cases in 18 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 4,946. Statewide, 3,992 people have been hospitalized. Currently, 163 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Gallatin, Lewis & Clark, Flathead, and Cascade Counties. 1,093 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, the US passed a grim milestone Tuesday, with more than 400,000 Americans dead of COVID-19. There have been 24,200,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

2.5 million U.S. children have tested positive for Covid-19 since the pandemic started, and in just a one-week period, more than 211,000 children were reported to have Covid-19. That rate of COVID in kids in the week between Jan. 7 and Jan. 14 is the largest weekly increase since the pandemic began in the U.S. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association said, “The data underscores the urgent need to control the virus in communities so students may return safely to in-school learning,” the groups said in a joint statement.

In his farewell address to the nation on Tuesday, President Donald Trump attempted to highlight his administration’s successes amid the backdrop of an impeachment trial for inciting an insurrection while also calling on Americans to “pray” for the new administration. “This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” Trump said. He added, “We did what we came here to do — and so much more,” referring to the administration’s conservative legislative achievements and record-setting judicial appointments. As Trump faces a second impeachment trial in the Senate, where a conviction could bar him from holding public office in the future, he said in his speech his “Make America Great Again” movement is “only just beginning.”

Montana lawmakers held hearings Monday for a pair of bills that would require athletes at high schools, colleges and universities to participate in sports aligned with their birth gender and fine doctors for providing gender-affirming medications and surgeries to transgender minors. Rep. John Fuller, R-Whitefish, introduced House Bill 112 and House Bill 113 to the House Judiciary Committee and received significant pushback. Nearly 150 public comments were heard between the two bills, with more than 100 of those in opposition. More testimony was submitted online, as the session is being held under a hybrid model that allows for remote participation because of the pandemic. More than 400 medical professionals, 150 business leaders and 43 members of religious clergy in Montana have signed letters opposing both laws, as well as major hospital systems.