How Escalating COVID Cases Forced One State to Change Its Masking Strategy

In Montana’s conservative Flathead County, prosecutors and local leaders were turning a blind eye to businesses that flouted state mask and social distancing mandates, even as the area’s COVID infections climbed to their highest levels.

Montana is one of the last states to face the possibility of requiring mask use. It appears to be on a similar track to some of its neighboring states that are facing some of the fastest rates of infection in the United States.