Montana adds 746 COVID-19 cases Sunday, total now 27,880

The state reported 746 new cases of COVID-19 early Sunday, pushing Montana's overall total to 27,880.

Of those, 17,832 people have recovered and 9,751 remain active, according to the state’s website, covid19.mt.gov. There were 297 deaths reported, which was three more than Saturday. There are 357 people hospitalized out of 1,229 total hospitalizations.

The state has administered 465,607 tests, which is 1,577 more than reported Saturday.

In northcentral and northeastern Montana, Hill County reported 31 of the new cases, Lewis and Clark had 22 and Blaine, Chouteau, Fallon and Fergus had 12. 

Glacier had 10, Sanders had seven, Valley had six, Phillips and Cascade each had 

three, Teton and Toole each had two, Dawson, Meagher, Roosevelt and Wheatland each had one.

Elsewhere in the state, Yellowstone County, the state's most populous topped the list with 147 cases. Gallatin had 113, Missoula had 89, Lake had 26, Custer and Richland had 22 each, Silver Bow had 17 and Park County had 16.

Deer Lodge and Lincoln had 14 each. Ravalli had 13, Powell had nine, Madison and Rosebud had six each and Broadwater had five.

Carbon had four, Garfield and Sweet Grass each had three and Golden Valley had two.

Big Horn County said Sunday it has exceeded its highest monthly total, which was 357 cases in August, with 362 newly confirmed cases so far to date in October.

RiverStone Health, Yellowstone County’s public health department, reports two more Yellowstone County deaths due to COVID-19 related illness, making for a total of 85. They said 5,952 Yellowstone County residents have been infected with COVID-19.

A man in his 50s died Friday and a man in his 80s died Saturday. Both deaths were in a Yellowstone County hospital, officials said.

State, county and health officials have been urging Montanans to take precautions to slow the spread of the respiratory illness. 

In July, Gov. Steve Bullock issued a directive making masks mandatory in Montana counties with four or more active cases to combat the spread of COVD-19.

According to Sunday’s report, 52 of the state’s 56 counties are now under that mandate.

The state launched a website Thursday that allows residents to report their concerns about businesses that have not complied with directives to slow the spread of the coronavirus, such as limiting crowd size.

The goal here is to make sure businesses are following the measures we need to keep folks safe,” Bullock said.

He said the concerns will be reviewed by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services and then sent to the local authority for review. Bullock said the information will be part of a database that will allow officials to see if a particular business is a repeat offender.

The complaint form is at: https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/FCSS/ConsumerComplaintForm.

As of noon Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported there were 8.5 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States and 224,221 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.