State adds 588 COVID-19 cases Sunday, total now 22,821

Montana recorded 588 new cases of COVID-19 early Sunday, bringing the state’s total to 22,821.

Of those, 13,441 are recovered, 9,139 remain active, according to the state’s website covid19.mt.gov. There are 331 people who remain hospitalized out of 1,010 total hospitalizations. There have been 431,134 tests administered, which is 3,006 more than reported Saturday.

Deaths grew by one to 241, the state reported. Big Horn County on Saturday announced the 35th death of a county resident due to complications from COVID-19. They said it was a man in his 30s, who was hospitalized prior to his death.

The first case of the respiratory illness was reported on March 11.

In northcentral and northeastern Montana, Hill County topped the list with 44 new cases. Lewis and Clark added 33, Cascade County added 18, Valley increased by 16 and Blaine reported 13.

Roosevelt County had six, Fergus and Sheridan each had four, Teton had three, Chouteau, Dawson, Judith Basin and Toole each had two, McCone, Phillips and Wibaux each had one.

Elsewhere, Yellowstone County, Montana's most populous county, topped the list for the state with 127 new cases, Flathead had 80, Gallatin had 57, Silver Bow had 44, Missoula had 32, Big Horn had 18, Deer Lodge had 15, Richland had 14 and Ravalli County had 13.

Yellowstone County has 2,073 active cases, 2,918 recoveries and 77 deaths, according to the stater website.

Park County had eight new cases, Jefferson had six, Carbon and Musselshell had four, Rosebud had three and Lake, Lincoln and Wheatland had two. Broadwater, Carter, Madison and Treasure counties each had one.

Hill County now has 285 active cases, 764 recoveries and 10 deaths, the state reported.

Cascade County had 619 active cases, 764 recoveries and 14 deaths. Lewis and Clark had 354 active cases, 249 recoveries and three deaths and Roosevelt County has 385 active cases, 369 recoveries and 14 deaths.

Blaine County has 126 active cases, 78 recoveries and two deaths. Dawson had 72 active cases, 86 recoveries and one death. Fergus County had 47 active cases, 114 recoveries and two deaths..Valley County has 139 active cases, 123 recoveries and two deaths.

In an Oct. 2 state analysis, about 44% of cases were from contacts to a known case, either within the household or otherwise. Clusters were 30% and 20% likely got the virus in the community and 5% was attributed to travel‐related exposures.

State and medical officials spent time in the past week urging the public to help stem the spread of the virus.

It was from mid-March to early June until 500 cases were reported. Since Oct. 1, there have been 9,321 new coronavirus reports. The state has added 3,696 cases since Oct. 12.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Sunday afternoon that there were 8,081,489 coronavirus cases in the United States and  218,511 deaths. 

Reporter Phil Drake is our eye on the state capitol. For tips, suggestions or comment, he can be reached at 406-231-9021 or pdrake@greatfallstribune.com. To support his work, subscribe clicking the "Subscribe" tab at the top of the page.

See for yourself

The Cascade City-County Health Department said COVID-19 information for Cascade County can now be found at: https://www.cascadecountymt.gov/184/Current-COVID-19-Cases-in-Cascade-County