As of Tuesday, July 27, 2021, Montana has a dramatic increase in coronavirus illness and reports 115,665 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 261 new cases reported since yesterday: 53 new cases in Yellowstone County, 46 new cases in Flathead County, 33 new cases in Gallatin County, 29 new cases in Missoula County, 19 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 25 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 942. Currently, 81 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Flathead, Yellowstone, and Cascade Counties. 1,699 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Four more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 611,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 34,500,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

An unvaccinated snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo has contracted Covid-19. Ramil, a 9-year-old male snow leopard, had a cough and runny nose last Thursday. Later, two separate tests confirmed the presence of the coronavirus.

Boaters and other recreationists using Hebgen Lake were alerted by NorthWestern Energy on Monday that the reservoir will continue to drop as more water is being required to generate power at hydroelectric dams and to cool the Madison River as hot weather persists.

An Air Quality Alert has been issued for twelve counties across Montana due to worsening air quality conditions from wildfire smoke, including the southwest Gallatin, Madison and Park counties. Bozeman’s air quality spiked from “moderate” to “unhealthy” throughout Sunday, peaking early Monday morning.

Did you know? The airplane that took the US Olympic equestrian team’s horses to the Tokyo Olympics is named Air Horse One.