Aaron Bolton

The Red Cross has, for the first time, declared a national blood donation crisis. Some hospitals say they're rationing blood products. And blood banks are scrambling to encourage donations.

Montana will receive 650,000 rapid COVID-19 tests later this month. Until then, the state health department says a national shortage on the tests has prevented orders from getting filled.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to shortages of everything from toilet paper to cars. Now the American Red Cross and Montana hospitals say they are experiencing a major shortage of blood donations.

With too many teachers out sick with COVID-19, the Smith Valley School in Kalispell is shifting to remote learning. One of the state’s largest districts, Great Falls Public Schools, also shifted to remote learning due to staffing shortages this week.

After reimplementing "Phase 2" COVID-19 restrictions due to the omicron variant, the Blackfeet Tribe says it won't enforce restrictions.

“A cloth mask can absolutely add protection. It adds a small level of protection compared to surgical masks," said Missoula County Health Officer D’Shane Barnett. "And surgical masks add a small level of protection compared to the N95.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday gave the final approval for kids 12 to 15 years old to receive a Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot. The move comes as a record number of children in the U.S. are hospitalized for COVID.

COVID cases over the past week have more than doubled and the number of new cases added each day is growing. Hospitalizations in recent weeks have dropped coming off the state’s recent wave fueled by the delta variant.

A program providing mental health services to public school students is close to running out of temporary funding. State and public school officials are still working out a new funding structure to keep providing services.

A recent state health department report shows COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among American-Indians in Montana last year.