Montana set a new record on Wednesday of the highest number of people getting hospitalised in COVID-19 related cases. The tally stood at 510, according to US media reports.

The previous highest daily count, which was 506, was recorded before vaccinations for the deadly disease were available in the United States. The numbers were recorded on November 20, 2020.

Governor Greg Gianforte, who is a member of the Republican party, has been against mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for the residents of Montana. However, 60-year-old has also pushed people to get inoculated.

Meanwhile, the school district in Livingston, Montana, shifted its middle and high school classes to remote learning to slow the spread of the coronavirus among students. Officials stated that only a few students were spotted wearing facemasks.

The school board voted Tuesday to have remote learning for its 740 middle and high school students until October 25, because there are 17 coronavirus cases each at Park High School and Sleeping Giant Middle School.

The news comes as Texas and Florida, states where the Republican party has a stronghold, have imposed bans on vaccination mandates through executive orders signed by Governor Greg Abbott (Texas) and Ron DeSantis (Florida).

Abbott, who is a member of the Republican party, said in a press release on Monday that “no entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination by any individual, including an employee or consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”  

In Miami, families of COVID-19 patients are asking hospitals to rethink visitor policies a year and a half into the pandemic. 

Hospitals in at least a half-dozen states have loosened restrictions governing visits to COVID patients. Others, however, are standing firm, backed by studies and industry groups that indicate such policies have been crucial to keeping hospital-acquired infections low.

(With AP inputs)