County Reports Fifth Triple-Digit Rise In COVID Cases In A Week
BETHESDA, MD — For the fifth time in seven days, Montgomery County has seen a triple-digit jump in COVID-19 cases — a sign that health officials say indicates the county is not yet ready to move into phase three of reopening.
Wednesday's addition — of 104 known infections — pushes the countywide total to 24,664. That's three times higher than the permissible limit county health officials set to move on to phase three.
The county has typically reopened at a slower rate than the rest of the state, due to higher COVID-19 numbers. Health officials say the county will not enter phase three until they see low and medium transmission levels — or 10 to 35 cases a day. Over the last three months, daily COVID-19 cases have hovered between 47 and 171.
The number of people dying daily from COVID-19 — on the other hand — has been between zero and five in recent months.
On Wednesday, Montgomery County recorded one new death, which pushes the local death toll to 822.
Another 40 people, health officials believe, had the disease but died before ever getting tested. For now, they are considered "probable deaths" — and won't be added to the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a laboratory test.
Montgomery County — Maryland's most populous jurisdiction — has the second highest number of deaths and cases in the state, after Prince George's County, which has 824 fatalities and 31,695 infections, according to the latest figures.
Across Maryland, there have been 137,236 cases, 3,912 confirmed deaths, and 146 "probable deaths." Of the 463 people that are currently hospitalized, 131 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
This article originally appeared on the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Patch
