COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in 2020 among Montana’s native population, despite the state’s seven reservations instituting stricter public health mitigation measures compared to the rest of the state, according to a December report released by the Department of Public Health and Human Services.
The report found COVID-19 was responsible for 251 of the 1,022 total deaths among Montana Native Americans in 2020. Heart disease was the second leading cause of death, accounting for 119 death...