County Sees Largest One-Day Rise In COVID Cases Since June 4

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County has recorded its greatest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases since early June, according to data released Wednesday by the Maryland Department of Health.

In the past 24 hours, the county reported 238 new coronavirus cases, pushing its total to 27,969. Last time the daily caseload was higher was on June 4, when there were 302 confirmed infections.

The latest data comes a day after the county reduced capacity limits for businesses — including restaurants and retail establishments — in response to a recent uptick in cases.

The new restrictions, all part of County Executive Marc Elrich's amended order, went into effect at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. That means public gatherings are limited to 25 people or less, indoor dining is capped at 25 percent, and food service establishments are required to keep a daily record of all dining patrons for contact tracing purposes.

Museums, art galleries, bowling alleys, and retail shops also are required to reduce their capacity to 25 percent or 25 people, whichever is lower.

"We have been watching the daily number of new cases go up for more than two weeks and it's unfortunately time to roll back some of our reopening steps in order to decrease the spike we are seeing," said Elrich.

The county, which is currently in phase two of its pandemic recovery plan, 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.

Montgomery County on Wednesday hit 21 straight days with more than 100 daily new COVID-19 cases, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

Unlike the daily caseload, the number of people dying daily from COVID-19 in recent months has been between zero and five.

On Wednesday, health officials recorded three new deaths. That pushes the local death toll to 858.

Forty-one others, health officials say, may have had the virus but died before ever getting tested. For now, they are considered "probable deaths." They won't be added to the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a lab test.

The county — which is home to roughly 1.1 million residents — has the highest number of deaths in the state. It also has the second highest number of confirmed cases, after Prince George's County, which has 35,146, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 158,423 coronavirus cases, 4,100 confirmed deaths, and 149 "probable deaths." Of the 805 patients being hospitalized for the disease statewide, 193 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

SEE ALSO:

• Hogan Reduces Restaurant, Bar Capacity As Coronavirus Cases Spike