HELENA – Montana Health officials reported 493 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest number of cases tallied in a single day since January.
Hospitalizations are also on the rise, with more than 150 people hospitalized with the respiratory virus on Tuesday, nearly triple the average of 54 COVID-19 hospitalizations recorded per day in June.
Hospitalizations remain below the peak of over 400 recorded last November.
Less than half of Montana residents eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine are fully vaccinated. Of those hospitalized with the virus in June and July, nearly 90% were unvaccinated.
In Helena, wastewater testing indicated the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community has skyrocketed in recent weeks.
The results of tests conducted by Carroll College released Monday show Helena’s wastewater contained approximately 193,000 genomic copies of SARS-CoV-2 per liter, an increase of about 1,100% from the results released the previous week.
Lewis and Clark County public health officials said the results indicate that COVID-19 is on the rise, and case numbers are likely to increase in the coming weeks.