As of Tuesday, December 28, 2021, Montana reports 196,453 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 408 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 159 new cases in Gallatin County, 67 new cases in Yellowstone County, 64 new cases in Missoula County, 31 new cases in Flathead County, and more new cases in 21 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,056. The number of active cases increased by more than four hundred since yesterday. Currently, 121 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 2,904 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Five more people’s deaths have been reported since Friday. Nationwide, more than 817,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 52,800,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Montana’s active COVID cases increased over the last week as families traveled and gathered indoors for the holidays. Over the last seven days, at least 1,115 new cases were diagnosed in Montana, increasing the total active case count. It’s the first time since early October that the total active case count was higher than the previous week.

Kaari Fulton took a big gamble in November 2020 when Montana voters legalized recreational marijuana by a wide margin. Following the election, Fulton and her husband, who live in Glendive in eastern Montana, opened Armadillo Buds, a medical marijuana dispensary, outside of town. But then the conservative Republican-majority state Legislature upped the ante. In framing the state’s cannabis regulations in the 2021 legislative session, Republican lawmakers set up a system in Montana similar to “dry counties” for alcohol: the new marijuana rules say that cannabis use and possession are legal statewide, but whether counties allow recreational marijuana sales depends on whether or not that county approved legalization in the 2020 election.
Lawmakers did leave one option for Fulton in Dawson County and the six other shops in the same position: voters in red counties could hold a special election to turn the county green. Following the state’s new rules, Fulton gathered 1,398 signatures — three more than she needed — forcing a special election on Dec. 23 to flip the county green. On Thursday, Dawson County voted 55% to allow recreational cannabis sales.
Montana recreational marijuana sales begin January 1.