As of Thursday, January 28, 2021, Montana reports 92,934 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 404 new cases reported in the last day: 93 in Yellowstone County, 55 in Gallatin County, 47 in Flathead County, 35 in Missoula County, 23 in Silver Bow County, 21 in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 34 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 4,004. Statewide, 4,203 people have been hospitalized. Currently, 114 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Flathead, Cascade, and Gallatin Counties. 1,210 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nine more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 429,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 25,600,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Democrats are discussing a path to bypass Republicans and approve an aggressive Covid-19 relief package on a party-line basis as prospects for bipartisan support for President Joe Biden’s top priority diminish. White House economic adviser Brian Deese and Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zientz held a call Thursday with Senate Democrats as they grapple with whether to cut a slimmed-down deal or use a process known as reconciliation to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote rule to avoid a filibuster.

The first U.S. cases of the South African Covid-19 variant have been detected in South Carolina. The two cases are the first recorded cases of this variant in the United States. Experts agree that existing vaccines would work against this variant. While this variant does appear to spread coronavirus more easily and more quickly, there is “no evidence to suggest that the B.1.351 variant causes more severe illness.”

The Gallatin County Planning Department has declined a request from environmental groups and a fishing products company to complete a more extensive review of a contentious development in Gallatin Gateway. The Gallatin County Planner says the Riverbend Glamping Resort, a proposed vacation spot on an island in the Gallatin River, does not need to be reviewed as a subdivision because the project does not meet the legal definition. Although the planning department won’t review the resort as a subdivision, it has decided the project will require a floodplain permit because the site is in the 100-year floodplain—indeed, the project is in the floodway of the river, since it’s on an island. The planning department is now reviewing the floodplain permit application. There is no date by which the department will make a decision on the permit.