As of Thursday, February 17, 2022. Montana reports 260,603 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 840 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 231 new cases in Cascade County, 150 new cases in Flathead County, 62 new cases in Yellowstone County, 61 new cases in Gallatin County, and more new cases in 38 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 4,242. Of Montana’s 56 counties, 52 report active cases. Currently, 213 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 3,099 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Eight more people’s deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 927,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 78,100,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Expectant mothers who get a coronavirus vaccine while pregnant pass immune protection on to their newborns, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

Ryan Zinke, who was Donald Trump’s first scandal-plagued head of the Interior Department, violated ethics rules and misused his office with his ongoing involvement in a real estate project in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana. The report from Interior’s Office of Inspector General is yet another scathing rebuke of Zinke’s repeated false claims that internal probes against him were “B.S.” and that he was cleared of wrongdoing — a drum that he continues to pound as he campaigns for Montana’s new congressional seat.

The largest rogue wave ever observed swelled off British Columbia in November 2020. The monster wave, which struck off the coast of Vancouver Island, reached a height roughly equivalent to a four-story building.