As of Tuesday, March 30, 2021, Montana reports 104,321 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 157 new cases reported in the last day: 55 in Gallatin County, 14 in Missoula County, 14 in Park County, 13 in Big Horn County, 11 in Yellowstone County, and more new cases in 18 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 898. Currently, 46 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Gallatin, Missoula, and Yellowstone Counties. 1,437 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 550,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 30,400,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, warns of “impending doom” as the U.S. sees a steady rise in Covid-19 cases. Walensky gave an emotional plea for Americans to continue following mask-wearing and social-distancing guidelines. Walensky, who has been warning about troubling data on the number of new infections for weeks, said she fears the U.S. could see another surge in cases similar to last summer and mirroring spikes that Europe is seeing. She attributed the rise in part to the spread of more contagious variants, increased travel, and governors lowering restrictions too quickly. She said she will urge governors again on Tuesday not to open up their states too quickly. The average number of new cases has increased 10 percent to slightly less than 60,000 cases a day over the past week, she said. Hospitalizations have also increased, and deaths increased nearly 3 percent to an average about 1,000 deaths a day. The U.S. has been nearing 3 million vaccinations a day over the past few days, topping that mark on Sunday. 73 percent of seniors have received their first dose and more than 1 in 3 adults have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

There is a notable uptick in COVID-19 cases in Gallatin County after downward trends since the beginning of the year. People in their 20s are leading the case counts, and the Gallatin City-County health department reported 35 cases related to Montana State University this week. Many of the infections at the university are related to students living off campus, Health Officer Matt Kelley said. The increase in cases is also coming with an increase in the positivity rate — that’s the portion of COVID tests that indicate someone is infected — which was 5.9% on a 7-day rolling average on Tuesday, up from 4.4% the week before. There are additional cases connected to the more-infectious UK variant of the virus, which was detected in Gallatin County earlier this month. The Montana Department of Health and Human Services is also screening other test specimens that may be related to other variants.

Two grass fires pushed by strong winds have burned 39 square miles of land on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, two unoccupied trailer homes and three telephone poles. One fire started Sunday west of the community of Blackfoot. About 600 residents were asked to evacuate as a precaution. A second fire started near Starr School. No occupied homes were burned, there were no injuries and no cattle were lost, said Lyle St. Goddard, superintendent of the Chief Mountain Hot Shots. The cause of the fires are being investigated. There were sustained winds in the area of about 65 mph on Sunday, with gusts up to 85 mph. Blackfeet Tribal Business Council Chairman Timothy F. Davis issued a declaration of emergency at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the tribe said in a statement. Evacuation orders were lifted Sunday night and the fire was considered 90% contained on Monday.