As of Wednesday, September 15, 2021, Montana reports 137,389 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,183 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 251 new cases in Yellowstone County, 152 new cases in Flathead County, 151 new cases in Missoula County, 138 new cases in Gallatin County, 113 new cases in Cascade County, and more new cases in 36 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 8,670. There are active coronavirus cases in 55 of 56 Montana counties. Currently, 364 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 1,858 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Eleven more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 664,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 41,400,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Dozens of American Indian tribes asked the Biden administration Tuesday to immediately enact emergency protections for gray wolves, saying states have become too aggressive in hunting the animal. Groups representing the tribes sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland asking her to act quickly on an emergency petition they filed in May to relist the wolf as endangered or threatened.

Missoula County broke its single-day COVID record on Saturday, when it had its largest one-day increase of COVID cases, and Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula says it is triaging COVID patients in its ambulance bay. The hospital says it’s seeing an overwhelming number of unvaccinated patients with COVID.

Billings Clinic, with its ICU at 150% capacity, wards overflowing and the National Guard called in to assist, has announced that they are preparing for the possibility they will have to implement “crisis standards of care”.

A student was drugged and sexually assaulted at the University of Montana early Sunday morning in a campus residence hall. The university is investigating what they’ve classified as a “drug-facilitated aggravated assault”.