As of Friday, September 10, 2021, Montana reports 133,715 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 977 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 168 new cases in Yellowstone County, 120 new cases in Flathead County, 112 new cases in Missoula County, 99 new cases in Gallatin County, 90 new cases in Cascade County, and more new cases in 37 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 7,252. That’s the highest active-case count since December 2020. Currently, 338 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 1,834 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 656,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 40,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

France is banning unvaccinated American travelers. France is the latest European country — and the most significant tourism destination — to remove the United States from its safe travel list, following European Union recommendations in the wake of a US COVID spike.

More Montana high schools have postponed, rescheduled, or canceled sporting events due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, low numbers of players, and a shortage of bus drivers. COVID-19 has impacted football schedules in Missoula and at Sheridan, Plains, Hays-Lodgepole, and Rocky Boy.

A contaminated site is now prioritized as a Superfund cleanup site in Billings after it was added to the EPA’s national Superfund priorities list. The 30-year-old site of contamination in south-central Billings was polluted with solvents discharged from old dry cleaning businesses in central and downtown Billings created a plume on 855 acres stretching for three miles. The solvents evaporated into the air as a potentially cancerous vapor.